Commercial Break
by Jonakhensu
Summary: Following an unfortunate incident with a locker, Taylor Hebert is tricked into trading the Terrible Trio for fortune, fame, and exposure in the wider world of show business. If you asked her, she could have done without the exposure that comes with being a contestant on the hit reality show, Slut Life.
1. Recruitment 1:0

Disclaimer: I do not own Worm, the Slut Life CYOA, or any other CYOA or work mentioned or used in this story. They belong to their respective copyright holders. Please enjoy.

Recruitment 1.0

[hr][/hr]

"Where am I?" Taylor groaned woozily as her sedatives slowly wore off. Then her final memories hit. "The locker!" she exclaimed, bolting upright. Taylor gasped in pain as the sudden movement caused a previously minor headache to flare. Her heartbeat echoing in her ears as it suddenly began pounding didn't help. She tried to not hyperventilate, more because she didn't want to breath in any more of that vile air than she had to than in order to keep calm.

"Ah, Miss," a voice began before pausing a moment, "Hebert. Greetings." As Taylor blearily looked towards the speaking blob, it continued. "My name is Jacob Tricher."

"Who?" Taylor asked.

"Now," the man continued, "I don't expect you to have heard of me. Our corporation doesn't have much of a presence in your neck of the woods, yet. We're looking to change that, however. Starting with you." He paused again, but continued before Taylor could comment, "Ah, yes, your myopia." He held out what she knew had to be his hand. "Here are your glasses."

Taylor took the glasses and put them on, watching as the blur resolved into a man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing a suit. "Thanks," she said, giving her glasses the final adjustments to make them comfortable. Now, what did you want with me?" Taylor immediately repressed the twinge at how plaintive that sounded.

"Hm, yes," Jacob Tricher mused. "You probably would like an explanation."

"That would be helpful,"Taylor replied dryly.

Jacob leaned forward. "Alright, let's start with the basics. This company is the premier television network here, calling on talent from many worlds."

"Many worlds?" Taylor interrupted to ask. "You mean I'm not on Earth Bet? Did you kidnap me?!"

Jacob visibly winced. "That is one way to interpret it, yes," he began. Holding up a hand, he quickly continued, "However, we prefer to view it as conducting negotiations away from distractions. If you turn down our proposal, we'll return you back to where you were, none the worse for wear."

Taylor relaxed minutely. At least they weren't going to force her into anything, assuming Jacob was telling her the truth. "So, you're what? So kind of recruiter?"

"Essentially, yes," Jacob agreed. "It's my job to find suitable candidates who might be amenable to joining one of our shows. When I find someone suitable, we bring them to a corporate office, where we discuss the details of the offer. Those who agree are sent on to Legal to hash out all of the details of their contracts, and those who don't get sent back to continue with their lives as though this opportunity had never presented itself."

"That sounds, reasonable," Taylor offered. "So I'm in your corporate office, while," she looked down at herself before finishing, "still in a hospital bed. Is this how you meet everyone?"

"Ah, yes, that," Jacob began with a nervous chuckle. "You're something of a special case. The reason you're in a hospital bed in a gown instead of in a chair and dressed, is that we didn't want to make you uncomfortable by dressing you while you were still sedated. As for the rest… we are not in the main office." He paused for effect before continuing. "Due to special considerations in your case, we are currently in orbit. We'd normally be on the surface, but there are… issues we'll need to see to first."

Taylor blinked. What issues could cause… Only one thing made any sense. "Am I a parahuman now? Do I have powers?"

Jacob took a moment to flip through a file before replying, "Ah, yes, that is the nomenclature used. Yes, you are a parahuman. Unfortunately, your mind is having issues dealing with the increased stimuli, so we decided it would be easiest to remove you from the stimuli before having this conversation. If you agree to our proposal, we will slowly acclimate you to the stimuli until you can function normally regardless."

"What are you talking about? What kind of stimuli?" Taylor asked.

"According to your file, your terminology would rank you as a mid-tier Master, with the ability to see through the senses of those you control," Jacob explained. "The human mind is not used to being bombarded with the senses of a few others, let alone what you were experiencing, so your mind hasn't had to to learn how to process all of the additional input yet."

Taylor had a sudden, sinking suspicion. "And what happens if I decide not to agree?"

Jacob put on what looked to be a practiced grimace. "Should you decide our offer is not for you, we would be legally required to return you to your world as you currently are. Our doctors believe it'd take at least a week of near catatonia for you to adjust in those conditions. Depending on your parents and the hospital, you could either be discharged into your parents' care or sent to a dedicated facility for the duration."

"But-" Taylor protested, "my dad can't afford that!"

Jacob shrugged. "Unfortunately, our company can take no responsibility for your welfare beyond ensuring you are returned to where we picked you up properly. There are provisions for cases when doing so would result in your immediate death, but this is not the case here. Ultimately, should you reject this opportunity, you and your father will be no worse off than had we not made the offer at all."

"Fine," Taylor growled, crossing her arms angrily. "And don't expect me to forget that you _still_ haven't explained what you want from me." After a second of thought, she added, "Or what your company is called."

"Ah, right," Jacob began, leaning back in his seat. "We would you to be a contestant in a reality TV show we host."

"A reality TV show?" Taylor asked flatly. "Really?"

"Oh, yes," Jacob confirmed. "It really is quite popular the universe over. If you join, cameras would broadcast your life for all who wished to watch. In return, based on your length of service and the choices you make, you would have to potential to receive quite the impressive reward. Of course, most of that would be explained in further detail by our Legal department. And you may find a few, though not many, of your options restricted in light of your abilities."

"That doesn't sound too bad. What was that about length of service?" Taylor asked. "I don't want to be away from Dad too long."

"I wouldn't worry to much about that," Jacob said encouragingly. "One of the rewards would have you back in your bed picoseconds after you left. He wouldn't even need to know you've gone. In fact, if I recall correctly, that option also includes a decent cash payout, which could definitely help your financial situation." He paused for a moment before continuing, "As to the length of service, that's really all up to you. While you can, and many do, choose to remain a contestant in perpetuity, the standard term is one year and can be extended up to ten years. The shortest term you can do is six months."

"Seems reasonable," Taylor agreed.

"And it would give you plenty of time to adjust to your new powers," Jacob added. "So," he continued, pulling out a single paged form and a pen. "What do you say? Want to be a contestant? This form just says you're willing to join up. The full contract would be handled by Legal."

Taylor looked at the paper with some skepticism. "This'll give me time to figure out my powers, get me enough money to help Dad, _and_ get me back before he can miss me?"

"If you pick the right rewards, certainly," Jacob said smoothly.

"Fine," Taylor decided. "I don't want to end up in the mental ward or something. I'll sign up."

"Great," Jacob said cheerfully, passing over the paper and pen. Once Taylor had given the contract a quick look over, glancing over the SL logo without comment, and had signed it, he continued, "We, at Slut Life, are happy to have you as our newest contestant."

"Wait, what?" Taylor demanded, her eyes snapping fully open as she stared at Jacob.

"Now, remember," Jacob said as he retrieved the papers from Taylor's limp fingers and shuffled it back into his file, "while the details of your contract will be worked out later, the Contestant Registration Form you just signed _is_ binding."

Taylor continued gaping at the man in disbelief.

"I'm sure you're still recovering from your ordeal, so I'll leave you to get your rest. We'll have something delivered shortly to begin your acclimation to your abilities and some food for when you get hungry. Get a good rest, we're expecting great things from you."

As the man left, Taylor could only ask, "What did I just sign up for?"


	2. Recruitment 1:1

Recruitment 1.1

[hr][/hr]

"Well, you've done it again," Cindy Matos said in a combination of awe and disgust. "How do you do it?"

"It's pretty easy," Jacob Tricher explained. "First, you need to look sympathetic to their condition, then you explain the downsides of not signing up while playing up the good points and, ah, forgetting to mention the downsides unless they ask. Then, all you have to do is keep them distracted long enough to sign on the dotted line before they think to ask about anything else. After that, it doesn't really matter what they think. It's not like I'm going to see them again." He grinned again and added, "It also helps when you don't mention the name of the company until it's too late."

Cindy shook her head in disgust. "One of these days, you're going to do that to the wrong person." She gave a slightly feral smirk and added, "And I hope I'm there to watch you deal with the Ethics Violation Committee or watch you get eaten by a dragon or something."

"Hasn't happened yet," Jacob glibly replied.

"Only needs to happen once," Cindy countered. "Either way, thanks for leaving her for me to deal with."

"No problem," Jacob said with a smirk before sauntering away.

"I just love it when that asshole makes my job harder," she muttered under her breath. Still, it'd probably be best to get Taylor a set of clothes and something to focus her abilities on then give her some time to cool off. Hopefully, being the bearer of good news and presents would make things easier in the long run.

[hr][/hr]

Taylor looked towards the closed door. Something was coming. She wasn't sure exactly what, but she could feel it, jostling around in some kind of container. A thought had the thing scurrying, eight legs finding purchase on the container's walls, allowing it to scramble around. "Is that my power?" she asked herself in wonder. The creature, she supposed it was a spider, was coming closer. From the way it was jostling and the speed at which it was approaching, she figured someone pushing it along on a cart, moving at a brisk walk.

It took a few minutes for the spider to come to a stop outside of her door. She was somewhat surprised when the knock came, instead of the person just opening the door and walking in. "Yes?" she called questioningly. Hopefully it wasn't that jerk from earlier.

"May I come in, Miss Hebert," a female voice called through the door. "I have some clothes and food for you."

"What if I don't want you to?" Taylor called back. "Are you going to trick me into signing up for something even worse?"

There was a definite huff from the other side of the door. "Damn it, Tricher," the voice griped. "If you want me to leave, I will. I'll just leave this cart out here for when you're ready for it." She paused for a moment before adding, "I just thought you might want to talk about it."

Taylor thought for a moment before replying. On the one hand, she was thoroughly fed up with this entire situation. It finally seemed somebody was going to help her, but it had all been a trap. On the other hand, she now knew everything was a trap, and she'd already sprung it, so there probably wasn't much harm to be had in trying to learn whatever details she could get this woman to spill. "Sure, come on in," she finally called, her voice a bit more bitter than she had intended it to be. A moment later, the door slid open and a young woman, who couldn't be much more than twenty, walked in. Her long, impossibly red hair streamed behind her as she pushed the cart.

"Thanks for letting me in," the woman began. "I'm sorry you had to deal with Jacob. He's an ass." She made her over to the seat Jacob had used before, parking the cart at the end of Taylor's bed as she passed. "Anyway, I'm Cindy Matos, and I'll be working with you to finalize your contract once you're ready."

"So you are going to try to screw me over," Taylor stated sourly.

Cindy held up her hands in warding. "No, no! That's not it at all! My job is to make sure you actually understand what you're signing up for and to make sure that everything balances out." She smiled a bit before adding, "Also, unlike Tricher, I was actually a Contestant, so I know what I'm talking about." Taylor could actually hear the capitalization in Contestant. Shaking her head, Cindy added, "I'm sorry for what Tricher did to you, it was a rotten trick. Unfortunately, he didn't break any of Slut Life's policies when he did so. From what he said when he was bragging about 'bagging another recruitment bonus,' he never lied to you or forced you to sign up."

Taylor puffed up in indignation. "He didn't tell me anything about what I was doing and said I'd be sent back to the hospital, even though it'd bankrupt my dad!"

Cindy sighed. "Again, that's not against policy, though it sounds like he was more blunt than he needed to be when he explained it. And, most importantly, you did sign up. Even if he had lied, that contract would be binding, so long as he didn't force you to sign it. Still, I'll mention the emotional blackmail he used to the Ethics Committee and see if they'll take a closer look at his methods."

"And they'll just ignore it," Taylor grumbled. "After all, it's just his word against mine."

"That's… not quite true," Cindy reluctantly admitted. "We always record pre-admission interviews for use in any trailers we may make before your debut. If the candidate doesn't sign up, we only use the footage for training and legal purposes. He was supposed to mention that to you." She sighed again. "It's not enough to earn him much more than a verbal reprimand, unfortunately."

"Damn," Taylor muttered. "So, now what? Going to extol the virtues of your company and how I should be happy to have been chosen?"

"I can if you want," the redhead replied with a shrug. "But that can wait for a different day. I'm going to be completely frank with you. Slut Life is going to be making a sizable investment in you. They want to more than make back what they'll be spending on making everything work. That said, a happy Contestant is a profitable Contestant, so they also what us to do what we can to make you happy. Unless you want to be miserable, of course. We can handle that, too." At Taylor's incredulous look, she added, "What? Some people like that kind of thing."

"If you say so," Taylor replied dubiously. In an obvious effort to change the subject, she asked, "So, what's with the spider?"

Cindy nodded happily. "Ah, good. You're fine with a single arachnid. We were a little worried that the different sensory inputs would cause you some issues."

"What different senses?" Taylor asked. "You have it in a dark box."

"That's… a fair point," the redhead admitted. "Let's let the little guy out and see if that makes a difference." Putting action to words, she reached over and opened the box. "How's that?"

"Bug eyes are weird," Taylor opined. "She doesn't see like we do, that's for sure." Closing her eyes for a moment and concentrating, she added, "It's not too bad, but I definitely can't get a clear picture."

"No headache?" Cindy asked.

"None," Taylor confirmed.

"Good, we were hoping it'd take more than that to bother you. Tomorrow, we'll bring you a few crickets. That way we can make sure having different types of arthropods around won't bother you. It's also a good idea to find out what happens when one of the insects in your range dies while we have you in a properly controlled setting."

Taylor paled dramatically. "That could be bad," she agreed.

Cindy smiled before looking over at the clock. "Oh, dear, is it that late already?" Standing, she stretched, a move that showed she was much more limber than she had any right to be. "I need to be heading off to a meeting, but I'll be back to talk to you some more later on, alright? For now, think about what you would like to get out of this experience. Nothing specific, mind you, that'll have to wait until I get all of the forms drawn up, but it doesn't hurt to start considering things."

Taylor sighed. "Alright," she finally said. "I'll see you later. At least I have this little lady to keep me from complete boredom."

"Oh, right, my apologies. I'd forgotten you've been stuck in here with nothing to do for a few hours now," Cindy remarked. "Since Jacob obviously didn't do it, I'll see about getting a television in here for you, along with a highlight reel of previous Contestants. It'll be good to have an idea of what you may be signing yourself up for."

"Thanks, I guess," Taylor said, now sullen at the reminder of her inevitable fate. "I'll see you later."

"Count on it," Cindy confirmed. "And, if my meeting goes well, I'll hopefully have some good news for you, too." Making her way over to the door, she gave Taylor one last little wave before leaving.

[hr][/hr]

"Sir," Cindy began, as soon as pleasantries were out of the way, "we need to talk about Jacob Tricher."

"Oh?" Senior Executive Bob Ross, no relation, queried. "What has Dewey done this time?"

"Dewey, sir?" Cindy asked.

"It's his first name," Ross explained. "Dewey Jacob Tricher. Now, what has he done?"

"His current recruit had no idea what she was signing up for until after the ink was on the paper," she bluntly said.

"Did he lie to her about it?" Ross asked, stroking his goatee.

"No," Cindy admitted, "but he had her file. He should have known what tricking her like that could do to her mental state."

"That bad?" Ross asked.

"Have you had a chance to look through her file, yet?" Cindy asked instead of immediately answering. If he hadn't she'd save time and the aggravation of being interrupted repeatedly to explain basic points. Better to get it all out of the way first.

"I haven't had the pleasure, yet. One of the problems with being this high in the organization," he admitted. "The amount of paperwork that crosses my desk makes it impossible to give everything not immediately critical the attention to detail I'd like as early as I'd prefer. Give me the bullet points, please."

"Yes, sir," Cindy agreed, glad she had asked. Granted, Bob Ross was a fairly easy going man who appreciated all of his workers and the Contestants. He'd convinced her to join the Slut Life family, both as a Contestant and as an employee, and she regretted almost none of it. "She's the first person we've pulled from her Earth, making her the test case. She was taken from her hospital bed, where she was still being sedated after a very traumatic incident that induced some form of symbiotic merger with an entity we still haven't finished analyzing. This was after every authority figure you could care to mention failed to prevent it."

"And then Tricher decided the best way to get her on board was to trick her, correct?" Ross interjected.

"Yes, sir. He never outright lied to her, but he managed to make Slut Life sound like an ordinary reality TV show, somehow managed to never actually _say_ the name of the company, and engaged in some emotional blackmail."

"That is a serious claim," Ross stated with a frown. "I take it the recording devices were active the entire time?"

"Yes, they were," Cindy confirmed. "I've reviewed the footage and, while he never broke the wording of our regulations nor broke any laws, he certainly stomped all over their intentions."

"How so?" the man asked. "We want willing contestants, not people who want to undermine everything we stand for. Well, except for the punishment details, of course."

"Strictly speaking, he didn't blackmail her at all," Cindy admitted. "He did, however, bluntly explain how, should she refuse, she would be returned to her previous location. Since she wouldn't be given time to adapt to her powers while here, she'd likely be institutionalized for a while, gaining both the stigma of a crazy person and a large debt that she likely can't afford."

"Damnation," Ross growled, scowling angrily. "That's not how I want my team to operate! If it weren't for Tricher's Uncle..." He stopped suddenly before softly adding, "Could you forget I said that? I don't want to get you stuck on the bad side of office politics. Either way, I can't get rid of him unless he wants to leave or if his screw is large enough that we have to get rid of him."

"Actually, I have an idea for that," Cindy began, a vindictive smile spreading across her lips. "And, best of all, it'll let Taylor get back at him, too."

"Oh?" Ross asked, quirking an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"It's been a while since we've had a recruiter on the ground in a new sector, right?"

Ross nodded, "Ah, I see. You think she'd be willing to join up? It's not the easiest path she could take."

Cindy huffed out a sigh and hunched forward a little dejectedly. "Yeah, I know. It's probably going to be a hard sell, but there's a few things going for it she might like that'll make it worth the effort." She grinned and added, "And that's not including the chance she might get to cover Tricher in bees."

Ross laughed. "I don't know if you'll be able to pull it off, but just that mental image will make it worth the effort. Do what you can, but make sure the poor girl knows what you're trying to sign her up for."

"Of course," Cindy said, affecting a scandalized expression. "I'm not Tricher, after all. I actually want my Contestants to be happy."

Ross laughed again. "Good. The best of luck to you. Now, I think I'd better read her file completely before any other issues turn up."

Taking the statement as the dismissal it was, Cindy nodded and made her way out of the office, ideas already bouncing around in her head. This was going to be such fun!

[hr][/hr]

Back in her room, Taylor was playing with her new pet and watching the television a technician had brought in, flipping through channels in an effort to get a decent idea of what she might have to deal with in the all too near future. A notebook lay open in her lap as she made notes on things she was both interested in and definitely wanted no part of.

Right at the top of the list was no duffel bags. Just watching that girl being tied up and placed inside the bag had nearly caused her a panic attack. There was no way she'd be willing to subject herself to that torture if she could at all help it.

Another thing she had noticed, though she didn't have enough details yet, were the girls who occasionally fought what looked to be an ongoing alien invasion of some kind. It didn't look to be on the same scale as the Endbringers back on her Earth, but they seemed much more frequent. As she watched, a number of girls fought, driving the creatures back through their portals. She wanted to be a hero, and if she was going to be here for a year, she might as well try to help out as much as she can, even if she had no idea how being able to control a spider would be useful. Maybe Cindy would have some ideas.

She changed the channel again and stared. That girl had a penis and forcing that other girl to suck it! What the hell?! She stared for a moment in disbelief before hurriedly changing the channel again, trying to ignore her blush. When she focused on the screen again, her jaw dropped in disbelief. On the screen was who she easily recognized as Cindy, bouncing up and down on a member larger than her [i] _arm_ [/i], sprouting up from what could only be a dragon. An honest to fuck dragon. On the screen. Fucking the person she was supposed to take advice from. And the weirdest part was that it seemed like Cindy was actually enjoying it! Hell, Taylor couldn't even see how something that large could even fit into a body that size.

A clatter startled her out of her daze as the pen she'd been holding hit the floor. She quickly hopped off of the bed and grabbed the pen before checking on her spider, which was happily spinning a web underneath the bed. Looking closely, she examined the thread, admiring the way it shone like gold in the light. She climbed back onto the bed and flipped the channel again, only to stare in shock as the same dragon was featured, this time with a girl who had to be at least several years younger than herself, taking that large dragon dick into her to the hilt, her stomach distending visibly around the invading member.

"How is that even possible?" she asked aloud in shock. Shaking herself, she turned off the television, figuring she'd had enough of the show for one night. She was rather afraid of what she'd find next if she kept flipping through channels like that. Lying down, she made herself comfortable before coming to an annoying revelation. The light switch was across the room. Grumbling, she got up again and made her way to the switch, turning it off.

For a moment, she nearly panicked as she was suddenly plunged back into absolute darkness. Under her bed, the spider began frantically running around. Using the spider as a guide, as she'd gotten turned around and didn't quite know the layout of the room yet, she made her way back to the bed and laid down again. Maybe things would seem better in the morning.

[hr][/hr]

Author's note: I have a buffer for this fic and plan on posting once a week, on Tuesdays. This may become more frequent should my buffer get large enough.


	3. Recruitment 1:2

Recruitment 1.2

[hr][/hr]

Taylor perked up as a dozen crickets entered her awareness. As they approached, she amused herself by making one cricket chirp at a time while keeping the others silent. After that, she made them all chirp simultaneously. Then she started having the crickets chirp in a specific rhythm. By the time the crickets were outside of her door, she moved on to having each cricket chirp at its own rhythm.

There was a knock at the door, followed by Cindy's voice, asking, "May I come in, Taylor?"

"Sure," Taylor called back. The door opened and the redhead wheeled in another cart laden with food and a box of crickets.

"I see you've been watching some of the Contestants' exploits," Cindy commented, gesturing toward the television where one of the girls was working in a pastry shop, her ears and tail twitching occasionally, showing that they were very real, indeed.

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "I figured it'd be a good idea to get an idea of what I want and definitely don't want to do." She flushed in remembrance before adding, "And I can't believe you had sex with a dragon! How does that even work?"

"You saw that, huh?" Cindy asked with a grin. "It was a bit rough at first, but the Flexible Holes mod is extremely effective. Besides, Smaug's a sweetheart. He's nothing like his namesake. Of course, not all of the dragons we have on staff are that accommodating with our contestants. Some of them just want a place to stick their dick, and the tighter the better. We've had some girls need serious medical treatment because they thought we were kidding when we suggested the mods they'd need if they wanted to tackle a dragon."

"That sounds… unpleasant," Taylor replied uneasily. To change the subject, she said, "So I see you brought the crickets."

"Yup," Cindy agreed, picking up the box and handing it over. "And I heard you syncing up their chirps. At least until the very end. What happened? Did you lose control over them or something?"

Taylor smirked in satisfaction. "No," she denied, "I had each of them chirping at a different tempo."

"That's… really useful. Can you hear through them?"

Taylor concentrated for a moment before replying, "I think so, kind of. They haven't really been around enough distinct noises for me to tell, and I don't think they hear the same way we do, anyway. And, in here, it's not worth trying, since I'd be hearing the television with my own ears at the same time as the bugs would be hearing it."

"Hm, that'll be another experiment to add to the pile. I'll see about bringing a radio with me the next time I bring you more bugs," Cindy commented, tapping her finger in contemplation. "It almost sounds like your power is a more specialized version of what some magical girls can do."

"Great," Taylor griped. "I get a useless power, and it's not even a unique one."

"I wouldn't say that," the redhead denied, shaking her head. "I don't think I've seen any who were able to have them do anything that complex without putting a lot of effort into it. Did controlling all of the crickets tire you out at all?"

"No," Taylor said, slightly more cheerfully. "I've had the spider you gave me making all sorts of webs while I was researching what other Contestants have done, and controlling the crickets was just as easy."

"Good to hear," Cindy said, happily. Her face became more serious as she continued, "Though, we do still need to see what happens when an insect dies when you're controlling it. We've had some bad incidents with feedback before. To that end, I have a few healing potions on me in case anything happens." She gestured towards the cart, where Taylor could see a rack of vials.

"Ye-yeah, I guess you're right," Taylor agreed nervously. "Um… how should we do this? Did you just want to squish one or have me feed one to my spider?"

Cindy thought for a moment before replying, "You may as well feed one of the crickets to the spider. That way we can see if you can override the insect's survival instincts or if you can only influence them."

"Sounds good to me," Taylor agreed, opening the lid of the box. Eleven crickets sat still as the twelfth made an apparent bid for freedom, jumping out of the box as soon as the lid was off.

Taylor had the sacrificial cricket hop its way over to a corner of the bed while also having her spider climb back up from underneath. Once the cricket was in position, the spider slowly approached from within the cricket's field of vision, giving it plenty of time to react. The cricket stayed still, allowing the spider to bite it before tying it up in webbing.

"Any issues?" Cindy asked, looking Taylor over critically.

"No issues controlling it," Taylor stated absently. "I can tell the cricket was bitten, but I didn't really feel it, if that makes sense. It's still alive, by the way. The venom's not that strong." The spider bit the bundled up cricket again. "That should do it, I think. Yeah, it's dead."

"And you didn't suffer any feedback," Cindy noted. "That's definitely a good sign. I'll see about getting you an ant farm or something tomorrow. You're taking to this well enough that we should be able to get you up to full exposure in no time."

"That's good to hear," Taylor said, sighing in relief. "It's a bit hard to not feel like a prisoner up here."

"Ah, right, sorry about that," Cindy said sheepishly. "I forgot to show you around last time. It's pretty bare up here, since this is just a temporary holding facility for difficult cases, but there's a few things to do."

Taylor quirked an eyebrow in concern. "Difficult cases?"

Cindy nodded seriously. "Yeah, I think you're the least worrisome person we've put up here, and that's mostly in regards to your well being, not the safety of others. Occasionally, Recruitment gets the bright idea to get someone who doesn't play well with others, on a large scale. There was this one guy, called himself Blight. He was radioactive to the point he was literally glowing. Definitely couldn't have him stay near the other recruits like that, so we stuck him up here."

"Wait… is this place still radioactive?" Taylor demanded, extremely worried about her future health.

"What?" Cindy asked in confusion before she shook a hand negatively. "Oh, no, nothing to worry about. We scrub this place for everything you could think of and then some things you can't between every use. It's safe." As Taylor settled down, she continued, "Anyway, after we explained what we wanted with him, he signed up, got a brand new, radiation free body, and, six months later, we sent him back to his world with a couple million dollars."

"Well… that's good," Taylor replied. "Better than having him making everyone around him sick."

"We thought so," Cindy agreed. "Besides, it was hilarious watching him deal with Tyrone."

"Tyrone?" Taylor asked. "Is he someone I should know about?"

"He's one of our more… aggressive owners," Cindy admitted tactfully. "I believe they liken being with him with finding out what it's like to be a prison bitch." She shrugged. "Some people are into that kind of thing, and it's good for ratings. Not my preference, though."

"What's this about owners?" Taylor asked, having heard the word used a few times so far, but not having had the context to figure out what was meant by it. The obvious answer had to be wrong, after all.

"Damn it, Tricher," Cindy muttered, rubbing her temple. "This was supposed to be part of your recruiter's job, but, as we've previously mentioned, he's an ass."

"Agreed. So, what's an owner?"

Cindy huffed out a breath before answering, "Every contestant is required to have at least one owner as part of their contract. For a certain amount of time each week, typically eight to twelve hours unless they really want to be with the same owner over multiple days, the owner will be in control of the contestant and can do more or less anything they want with them, provided it is eventually reversed."

"What?!" Taylor exclaimed angrily. "You sell us as slaves?"

"Not… quite," Cindy tried to explain placatingly. "You get to select who you want to be your owners, and you'll get a certain amount of credit towards your rewards, modifications, entertainment, and so on, based on who you select. Basically, the more humiliating or potentially shocking the choice, the more credits you receive." She took a breath and continued, "I typically recommend getting a different owner for each day. It adds a bit of variety, and we allow them to coordinate schedules in case one of them wants to plan something special for a day they normally wouldn't be in charge of the contestant. Occasionally, a single owner might schedule to have multiple contestants at once in something of a crossover event for the show. It's not like we just put you up on a block and auction you off." Under her breath, she added, "Unless you ask for it."

"What was that last bit?" Taylor demanded.

"I doubt you'd be interested, but there is an option where, after five years, we auction a contestant off to the highest bidder," Cindy explained. "It's also part of the entire contract negotiation process, so it's very hard to accidentally sign up for that. Usually it's used as a stepping stone to giving yourself to the owner of your choice, so it's only an issue if someone misses the second check box. Unless you decide to remain a contestant or to become a slave, it's really more like indentured servitude than slavery. Even better, you know in advance how long your contract will last."

"I'm still not happy with this," Taylor grumbled.

"I don't expect you to be. After all, you didn't know what you were signing up for."

"I hope I can control enough insects to cover that asshole in bees if I see him again," Taylor muttered angrily.

"I hope so, too," Cindy admitted. "And on that note, I have a proposition for you. I don't want you to make a decision now, but keep it in mind."

"What is it," Taylor asked, glad for a change of topic to take her mind off the current one.

"What would you think of being a recruiter for Slut Life?" Cindy blurted out.

Taylor blinked. "What?" she asked. "No, really, what?"

"Now, it's just an idea, but it would make it much more likely for you to run into Tricher again," Cindy began a little nervously. "Basically, if you agree, once you're back on your Earth Bet, you would keep an eye out for anyone who could benefit from the Slut Life experience and offer them a place as a contestant. It'd basically be your job to do what Tricher did for you, only do it properly."

"It'd be pretty hard to do a worse job than him," Taylor scoffed.

"True," Cindy agreed ruefully. "If you were interested, or even if you're considering it, we'd like you to take some legal classes. That way, you'd also be able to help them with filling out the contract as well. And, since you'd be out on the fringes, as it were, you could even go through the contract drafting process before getting them to sign up as a contestant."

"I'll think about it," Taylor said flatly.

"It'd be a bit harder on you than the easiest contract I could write up, but we need more people who know what the stakes are and who want to do the right thing," Cindy continued. "And, while I can't say much, some of the benefits would give you a lot more control over your life than you're likely to get elsewhere."

"I said I'll think about it," Taylor repeated. "Now, I think you said something about things to do around here?"

"That's all I ask," Cindy acquiesced. "Follow me, and I'll show you to the viewing window and the gym. Like I said, it's fairly basic up here, but it'll give you something to do.

"Sure, let me just my shoes on," Taylor agreed, suiting action to words. "I'm set," she added a moment later.

"Good. Now, follow me," Cindy said, leading the younger girl toward the door.

[hr][/hr]

There was a pounding on the door to Slut Life's Owner Relations office. Molly, the current intern, opened the door and jumped back in shock. Standing in the doorway, panting heavily, was a large black man, with a scruffy beard and a large afro. "C-can I help you?" Molly asked cautiously.

"Tyrone wants to speak to the bastard in charge," the man growled.

"C-certainly," Molly agreed, backing further into the room. "Have a seat and I'll go get him."

"Tyrone thanks you," the man, apparently named Tyrone, said, taking a seat in one of the waiting room chairs.

Molly made her way to her boss and said, "Mr. Reynolds, there's a man calling himself Tyrone… in the third person… here to see you. He's being rather insistent."

Adrian Reynolds sighed as he stood. "I'll talk to him," he said, making his way to the door. "He must have heard about the new contestant. You just stay back here for the moment, alright?"

"Thank you, sir," Molly replied, happy to stay away from the intimidating man.

"Don't worry about it. Dealing with Tyrone is always trying," Adrian said as he made his way back to the front room. "Good morning, Tyrone. How can I help you today?"

"Tyrone heard there's a new bitch for the show," Tyrone stated. "I want a chance to make her my bitch."

Adrian sighed. "I know we've been over this before. Most people don't want to be a prison bitch." He held up a hand before Tyrone could complain. "Yes, I know, it's great for ratings and you've had a number of people enjoy the position in the past. Still, it is not up to us what Miss Hebert will choose. You are, of course, on the list of options, as always."

Tyrone wilted for a moment before standing straight again. "That is all Tyrone asks. If the bitch can't appreciate Tyrone's care, that is not Tyrone's problem." He turned and made his way toward the door. As he was stepping through, he turned back and said, "Please apologize for Tyrone. He did not mean to startle your intern." He then made his way out of the office.

"One of these days I need to hire a Psychic," Adrian muttered, shaking his head, "just so I can find out how much of that is an act and how much of it is real."

[hr][/hr]

Taylor looked around the small gym critically. While she didn't exercise regularly, as evidenced by her small paunch, she still recognized most of the equipment around her. "This looks like a pretty nice set up," she commented.

"It is," Cindy agreed. "It's a bit basic, but we managed to fit in most of the essentials. The pool uses one of those current generating pumps, so you can do distance swimming if you want. All of the weights have computer controlled robotic spotters for safety, and there's a fairly basic AI programmed as a fitness coach if you'd like some guidance."

"Thanks, Cindy," Taylor said, looking down at her belly. "I could use the exercise, especially if I want to be a hero back home."

"Well, I'll leave you to it. If you need any swimwear, there should be some in the chest next to the pool," Cindy began. "It's also where you'll find the towels. That said, feel free to swim in the nude. No one will mind." With a jaunty wave, the redhead left, leaving Taylor blushing furiously in the gym.

[hr][/hr]

"Cindy, good to see you again," Bob Ross began cheerfully as his subordinate walked into his office. "How goes our newest recruit?"

Cindy plopped down in the offered seat and huffed out a breath. "I had to explain the Owner program to her," she explained. "She took it about as well as one would expect for someone tricked into signing up."

"That doesn't sound good," Ross commented. "I take it your proposal is dead in the water?" he asked. "It's a shame, we could use more conscientious recruiters. The ones we've been getting recently..."

"It's not dead, yet," Cindy cut in. "I explained things and left her to think it over. She seems fairly pragmatic, so I think she'll come around to our point of view."

"Hm, yes," Ross mused. "The realization that being the regional rep would keep people like Tricher away could be a strong motivator. Any other thoughts?"

Cindy shrugged. "She wants to be a hero back on Earth Bet. Judging by our file on her world, they definitely could use a few more. She's already in the gym, trying to get into shape. I didn't have the heart to tell her we could get her into better shape with little effort."

Ross nodded in agreement. "Not to mention that the sooner she starts new good habits, the easier it'll be for her to continue them later."

"That, too. I also think there's a good chance that she'll want to sign up to be a magical girl," Cindy continued.

"I take it you'd like me to authorize the full catalog?" Ross asked drolly.

"If you could, Sir, it'd be a help. I don't know what would fit her best, or what restrictions she'd be willing to work under. I get the feeling she'll turn down most of the more… random… empowerment methods, and I'm not sure she'd appreciate what some of the others come with, but she deserves to choose herself, assuming she wants to sign up in the first place," Cindy explained.

Ross was silent for a moment, flipping through Taylor Hebert's folder. He then turned to his computer and put through a few data searches before dramatically paling. "I'm going to authorize whatever she can handle," he decided shakily. "Just try to not give her anything too devastating. At least, not if you can't get her to understand the different kinds of invasions we typically face."

"I'll make sure to explain it properly," Cindy agreed.

"Good, see that you do," Ross said. "Now, get out of here, it's past quitting time for the day and I need to get a drink." Cindy nodded and gathered her paperwork. As she was leaving, she heard her boss mutter, "God help any of those dumb bastards who try to invade us for real."

Putting the comment out of mind, she made her way out of the building, off the clock but still thinking about which forms she should bring tomorrow, when she would finally be working on Taylor's contract properly. She also needed to head to the pet store again. Taylor was handling things much better than she had expected, so she could skip a few orders of magnitude in her training. A large ant farm should suffice for the next stage, especially if she could convince the store to give her a queen. Oh, this would be so much fun!


	4. Recruitment 1:3

Recruitment 1.3

[hr][/hr]

Taylor was staring at the Earth revolving below her through the viewing window while she worked at having her crickets chirp at specific frequencies. She'd gotten them to manage an octave, barely, but she needed one more cricket if she wanted to try for a chromatic scale. Still, practicing having them play simple songs gave her something to do, and it was bound to be at least amusing later on when she started being a cape. She smiled in delight as what could only be an ant colony was wheeled toward her.

The colony had hundreds of workers and even a few queens! An individual ant couldn't do terribly much, but, working together, ants could do so much more. And, she realized, her smile growing even wider, she could control all of them easily, including the queens. This definitely had potential. She could also tell there was a radio playing, but she couldn't quite get what the music was supposed to be.

"Hello, Cindy," she called, looking over as the redhead wheeled the cart into the room. "I see you got an ant colony. And the radio." Cocking her head to the side, she asked, "But what kind of music is that?"

"Yeah," Cindy replied, peeking around the large dirt-filled tank sitting on the cart. "The store I tried to go to only had ant farms with something like sixty workers at most. They wouldn't give me a queen, either. I ended up having a friend help me dig up a colony and package it up for you. As for the music, it's dubstep. "

"Thanks," Taylor replied. "I haven't heard of that before. It's definitely different. The ants don't seem to be making anything more distracting for me, though I can feel all of them doing their things and can control them if I want."

Cindy blinked. "If that's the case, I'm not sure how much more we'll be able to do for you here, besides bringing in more species. I definitely won't be able to cart enough bugs in here to really push your limits with numbers."

"Sounds good," Taylor agreed. "Maybe I'll have better luck seeing and hearing with a larger variety of bugs or something." After a moment, she added, "And I could always have fliers ferry around the slower bugs for me, if I need to."

"That could work," Cindy said, "and I'll look into getting you some beetles to play with for tomorrow. For now, we need to get started figuring out your contract. We'll need a few weeks to set everything up and start advertisements, but it could take even longer than that, depending on your choices." She paused for a moment before asking, "Are you up for getting started?"

Taylor sighed. There was really no point in putting it off. "Sure. Do you want to do it here or back in the main room?"

"Well," Cindy temporized, "that depends. Do you want to use the television screen or sit next to me while we use my laptop?"

"The TV would be easier," Taylor decided. "And we need to get the ants set up, unless you plan on leaving them on the cart?"

"That was actually the plan, yes," Cindy admitted. "I'd rather not risk dropping over a hundred pounds of dirt and glass if I can help it. I can always use another cart tomorrow."

"That works, I guess," Taylor replied, grabbing the cart and beginning to push it down the hallway. Once she had it pushed into one of the corners of her room, she turned around. "So, got a HDMI cable or something for your laptop?"

"No need," Cindy replied. "I can stream it directly to the TV instead." It took a moment to set up, but soon Taylor was looking at an interactive list of options, with handy pictures to break up the monotony of the text and provide a bit of context for some of the odder ideas.

"So..." Taylor began, looking at the collection of options, "where should I start?"

"Well, since we don't need to make selections in any given order, I'd suggest by choosing what you want to get out of the experience, starting with the main rewards and continuing on to any perks or modifications you may want, before figuring out how you're going to pay for it all. Trying to keep everything balanced from the start will just frustrate you."

"Makes sense," Taylor agreed. "Before, though, what's with the different difficulty levels it mentions at the top? And why is mine set on hard?"

"Ah, that," Cindy sighed. "There's a few different contracts we can use, and each has its own difficulty, which either gives an initial balance or deficit of credits to work with. I'm not sure why they bother showing the options, since the contestants don't get to choose their own difficulty. The standard difficulty is Hard, which gives you an initial balance of zero credits to work with. The other options are reserved primarily for punishment shows, recurring contestants, or contestants who are only involved due to the primary contestant's choices."

Taylor made a face. "And of course, being screwed over by the recruiter isn't a good reason for an easier contract."

"Unfortunately," Cindy agreed. "Though it'll give you a bit more respect from any other contestants you need to work with, if they find out. Now, what do you want to get out of this, generally?"

"Tricher mentioned something about being able to go home to the same time I left," Taylor said. "That'd be a good start."

Cindy winced. "Damn it, Tricher," she muttered, probably not for the last time. "I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but that'd be a really bad idea for you."

"Why?" Taylor asked.

"That option is usually called New Game+, but they're referring to it as 'Was it all a dream?'" Cindy began. "While you'd keep all the changes we make to your body, you also won't remember any of your time as a contestant. Which also means you'll probably lose all the progress we've made with your bugs." Under her breath, she added, "And they seem to have gotten rid of the enhanced version."

"That bastard," Taylor growled over Cindy's quiet comment. "Having time to get used to my powers was one of the only things that kept me from telling him to go fuck himself."

"It's not all bad," Cindy hastened to add. "We also give you three million dollars."

"That would take care of the bills," Taylor stated in shock.

"It would," Cindy agreed. "However, there are other options that I think you might like better. For instance, we could make you your own planet, custom designed for your tastes. Again, not what I think you'd enjoy, but it's a possibility."

"So, what would you suggest?" Taylor asked.

"Since I'd like you to join up with the corporate side of Slut Life eventually, I'd really like you to stick around, which means I'd like you to get an apartment and decide to make it your new home," the redhead began before hurrying on. "I think there's a way we can get you to both go home and live here whenever you want, which would be perfect for working for us on your Earth."

"And what's that?" Taylor asked cautiously. Just because she was beginning to like Cindy didn't mean she was going to pick her choice without considering it properly.

"Alright, first hear me out," Cindy began. "There's this secret society that pretty much controls the multiverse." At Taylor's look, she hastened to add, "Not on the individual level, of course, at least not in most cases, and they've only just started looking into your corner of it, but it's there. It's difficult, but, if you're willing to put in the effort, we can get you in. That'll also allow you to choose another two rewards. I'd choose both 'Was it all a dream?' and 'A new home', so that we have a reason to send you back, let you keep your memories, and give you a way to come back here. What do you say? Want to join the Illuminati?"

"The Illuminati?" Taylor asked incredulously. "Really?"

"Well, no, not really," Cindy replied. "It's not really called that, but it was a reference I was sure you'd get."

Taylor thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I think I'd better sign up for that. Earth Bet needs all the help it can get, and I'm not sure I can trust a group of shadowy assholes to do the job right."

"That's the spirit!" Cindy cheered. "Now, the Secret Society Membership is expensive, but keeping the apartment gets you a few points, so you're only 110 credits down. Yeah, it sounds like a lot, but it's pretty easy to make up."

"Is that a lot?" Taylor asked, having not had a chance to see what other things cost.

"It's about what we charge for giving you a planet," Cindy replied. "So, yeah, it's quite a bit, though I'm pretty sure we grossly undercharge for those planets."

[hr][/hr]

Cutie Coordinator Delia Travieso stood at at front of the auditorium. Before her sat nearly two dozen girls, with another two dozen attending through vidscreens. "Welcome, ladies," she began. "We've recently received word that there is a new Contestant currently being processed. As such, we'll be narrowing our choices down for the Cutie Position. Keep in mind, her contract has not been finalized, or even finished with the initial selection process, so, even if you become our representative, you might not be selected."

The girls watched on with varying levels of attention. The newer girls, those who hadn't had a chance to be an owner before, paid rapt attention. Those who had been around the block a few times were goofing off some, having heard the same speech many times before. These meetings were usually fairly standard, where a little bit of information about the contestant would be shared, those who were no longer interested would leave, and then a lottery would choose between whoever was deemed suitable.

"Now, to start with, the new contestant has been the victim of a prolonged bullying campaign," Delia continued. "So that we don't inadvertently cause her any undue stress, I would like to ask that anyone with the names Emma, Madison, or Sophia leave."

A number of heads snapped up at this. Things had to be bad to make that kind of request. The last time they had requested certain names be excluded, one of the girls had stayed, and had been murdered less than a month into the show. Leaving wasn't mandatory, but it was damn well encouraged. Anyone who stayed after such a request would be placed under additional scrutiny to make sure nothing untoward happened. If a girl with a declined name thought she could help the contestant overcome her issues and the shrinks agreed, she might still be given the go-ahead. Of course, it was also a great way to get kicked from the Cutie program if they disagreed. Three vidscreens went dark and five girls stood before making their way out of the auditorium.

Delia waited for the room to settle down before continuing. "Next, I would like to ask anyone who is uncomfortable around insects, spiders, and other creepy crawlies to leave."

One of the girls called back, "Miss Delia, why would we need to be worried about some bugs?"

Delia give a shaky smile and replied, "According to the preliminary information we've been given, there's a good chance that being near her would be like being near an Emotional Magic Girl from the Obsession Pit. For those of you not fully up to date on the various kind of magical girls, I'll put it this way. There's a decent chance she will be able to control bugs."

"Still, it's just bugs," the girl called back. "How bad could that be?"

"Have you ever seen the videos of Beelzajaab?" Delia asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"Isn't that the planet with enough bugs to smother people?" another girl asked.

"Yes," Delia confirmed. "It is."

"And that's a possibility with this one?" another girl asked.

"It is."

"I'm out!" another girl declared, quickly making her way to the exit. View-screens were quickly turning off as more girls streamed out of the auditorium.

Finally, the room was still again, with Delia on the stage and one girl still at her place in the audience. Delia blinked in surprise. "Are you sure you still want to be here?" she asked.

The girl shrugged. "I don't have any problems with bugs," she replied. "Back when Dad was filming on Beelzajaab, I used to love watching them crawl across the mosquito netting when I couldn't sleep. It was really soothing. I kind of miss it. Even with the nanobots, most of the bugs around here try to stay away from people." She shrugged in a 'what can you do?' manner.

"Ah, well, then," Delia began, somewhat taken aback. Looking down at her tablet, she found the girl's name and said, "If you're sure you want to volunteer, Miss Platt, I don't think you'll have to worry about the drawing."

[hr][/hr]

Cindy looked at Taylor for a moment before continuing, "Anyway, let's move on to any modifications you may want. Do you want to keep your current body, or would you like a new one?"

"What?" Taylor yelped. "What do you mean, do I want a new body?"

"Just that," Cindy explained. "We can keep your current body, exactly how it is except for any other mods you decide on, or we can tweak it a bit more. Change your overall body shape, set your voice how you want, change your eye or hair color, things like that. It's how I got my unnaturally red hair growing in." She paused for a moment before continuing, "If there's anything you don't like about your body, I'd recommend taking the new body. It's a bit of a misnomer. They only really replace your body if you want to make a lot of drastic changes. A number of minor touch ups would just involve sticking you in a tube for a while as a few things were tweaked. Anyway, the other reason to take it is that it provides twice the points as staying stock you."

"Well… I do think my mouth is bit too wide, and I'm a bit too thin for my height," Taylor began. She looked down at her meagre chest and added, "And I'd like to actually have boobs."

"That's easily fixed. We'll sign you up for an athletic body, tweak the face a bit, add a cup size or two, and… want an apple butt?" Cindy asked, looking Taylor over.

"A what?"

"An apple butt. It's a bit less extreme than a bubble butt, but it's a bit more than you have now," the redhead explained. "You could probably get one with enough squats, but if you're going to be changing your body to begin with? Why not skip the work?"

"Sure, I guess," Taylor replied, trying to look at her ass. "What else is there?"

"Well, the next part is also mandatory," Cindy began. "What do you want your primary genitalia to be?"

"Can you repeat that?" Taylor asked, sure she had misheard something.

"Do you want to be sexless, or have a penis, infertile vagina, or fertile vagina? Remember, they're not going to change back when you're done with the show. Of course, anything other than keeping your vagina might make a real new body a necessity."

Nope, Taylor had heard her right the first time. And, once again, the situation proved how weird her world was now. "I think I'll keep my vagina how it is, thanks."

"I'll mark you down for a fertile vagina, alright?" Cindy asked. Taylor nodded in confirmation. "Right. Next question. Want any additional penises? They cost five credits each."

"What? No!" Taylor exploded. "Why would I pay for that? No!"

"Alright," Cindy continued agreeably. "I assume you also don't want testicles?" At Taylor's glare she moved on.

Over the next ten minutes, Taylor and Cindy made their way through the list of modifications. While some were obvious choices, such as the repairbots and enhanced immune system, a good number left Taylor wondering, "Why would people pay for most of these, anyways? I mean, I wouldn't want some of them if you paid me for them!"

Cindy shrugged. "Some people are bigger perverts than you, and some like the idea of forgetting their pasts." She looked over the sheet again and asked, "So, happy enough with your choices now? We can come back to it later if you want to or if we need to make things balance out."

"It looks pretty good to me," Taylor agreed. "So, what's next?"

"Next up is housing," Cindy said. "If you want to be at all comfortable, the only realistic options available on this contract are either the hotel room or the apartment, and, since you chose the new home option, you really only have the apartment as an option, though it's ultimately a net gain in points unless you go completely silly on having tons of empty rooms."

"I'm going to need a place to keep all my bugs, though," Taylor pointed out.

"True," Cindy agreed, "but a careful set up with enough shelves should be able to handle it."

"Yeah," Taylor protested, "but then I wouldn't have any work space. I'm pretty sure I can get spiders to spin silk for clothing, and spider silk is supposed to be stronger than steel."

"Fair point," Cindy conceded. "You might want two rooms, then. I'd also recommend upgrading the bathrooms and bedrooms. It'll make things much less cramped, and a hot bath can be heavenly, even when you don't technically need to take one."

"Sounds good to me," Taylor said, selecting most of the room options. What did she need a bar for, anyway? "What's next?"

"Choosing what your primary food will be," Cindy stated, scrolling down the contract form. "I'll be honest, most of the food choices are either really expensive or just not worth it. That said, bread and water is boring and we still haven't managed to make MREs properly edible. Both are likely to end in constipation. Of course, you won't actually get constipated any more, so that might not be as much of an issue. Personally, I suggest going with the baby food."

"Really? Baby food?" Taylor asked incredulously.

"It's nutritious and actually comes in a variety of flavors," Cindy explained with a shrug. "It also gives you a few credits, which is always helpful. If we have enough left over, we can always look into getting you more spare rooms."

Taylor made a face but relented, "At least it's better than the left over option. That's just disgusting."

"There's worse things," Cindy said noncommittally. "Now, with that chosen, there's a few things they can do with the food, such as weekly fast food runs to give you some extra variety, force feeding your meals for a few extra credits, getting a glass of semen with each meal, again for more credits, or having access to a drink bar and being able to drink anything you want, so long as it's nonalcoholic."

"Ooh, fast food sounds nice," Taylor commented. "I'd probably miss not being able to go to Fugly Bob's if all I'm eating is baby food all the time."

"Personally, I think it's a waste of credits, as it wipes out everything you got from eating the baby food in the first place," Cindy replied, "but it's really up to you."

"And the drink machine. Definitely want that," Taylor decided. "I like my sodas and tea."

Cindy shook her head. "Again, it's up to you, but I'd consider it a waste of credits, myself. Then again, I mostly drink water." Shrugging, she said, "Come on, I think that's enough for now. Want to go back to the observation room and watch the Earth while we eat some lunch?"

"Sounds good to me," Taylor agreed, grabbing the food off of the cart and making her way out of the room.

[hr][/hr]

"Greetings, Gentlemen," the tuxedo clad announcer began from behind the podium. Before him were arrayed a number of tables, laden with hor d'oeuvres and fine wines. Each table had up to five men in fine suits sitting at them. "Today we are gathered to auction off the potential position of Gentleman Caller for the new contestant on Slut Life. As usual, we will begin with an initial round of bidding before adding more details as they are revealed."

Across the room, the men turned towards the front, abandoning their side conversations to pay more attention to the auctioneer. While there was no guarantee of being selected as one of the contestant's owners, it would be imperative to have the best chance possible if the contestant suited one's tastes. After all, if selected as an owner, the prestige earned would be more than compensation for the cost of being put forward. Even if the girl ultimately decided to go with another owner or was on the show for just a short duration, being shown as a proper Gentleman across the universe would only grant more access to potential life partners.

"That said, bidding for the position of Gentleman for one Miss Taylor Hebert is open," the auctioneer announced. "As usual, the opening bid is for one hundred dollars. Are there any takers?" One of the newer gentlemen, only at his second of such auctions, raised his hand. "Very good," the auctioneer said, making a note on his sheet. There was always someone more interested in being seen as a Gentleman over ensuring a good match. The various auctioneers did so enjoy betting on who would make the first bid.

"Two hundred!" another of the gentlemen called. Ah, yes, now the bidding war could truly begin.

"Three," the first man called.

"Five," the second stated confidently.

Well, the first goalpost had been reached. It'd be interesting to see if this changed things any. "We'll pause the bidding at five hundred dollars for the moment, as we've received some details." Looking down at the sheet, the auctioneer read off the first line, summarizing and translating it as he went. "Miss Hebert has been the recipient of some rather shockingly uncouth behavior of the last few years. She is likely to be rather skittish. We will now continue the bidding."

"Seven hundred," one of the more experienced gentlemen called. He was a fairly decent fellow, with a habit of trying to nurse the injured back to health, both animal and people. All things considered, he would not be a bad choice… if he weren't an arachnophobe. The auctioneer sighed. He'd need to time things just right. He liked that one, and didn't want to traumatize the poor man.

"Nine hundred," the second man called.

"Fifteen hundred," called another man.

The auctioneer smiled to himself slightly. "And we'll pause the bidding again, as I've just received some more information about Miss Hebert." The man currently with the highest bid was one of the ones who would give the rest of the Gentlemen a bad name, if they weren't so good at public relations and damage control. Skipping a few lines on his sheet, he continued "There are also indications that Miss Hebert can control a large number of arthropods. While similar, this is not entirely like the abilities of certain magical girls. Instead, the scientists believe she likely has full control of all arthropods in her range. They currently have her on the containment station in orbit around Earth, in part to prevent her from forming a swarm of biblical proportions." He paused for a moment, smirking lightly at the number of dropped wine glasses. "Shall we continue the bidding, then?"

For a long moment, there was silence. As it stretched into a full minute, the auctioneer nodded, before resolutely saying, "Very well, then. If there are no further bids?" he asked leadingly, looking around the room. "Very well. Going once, going twice, sold. Mister Bartholomew Parrino will be the Gentleman representative for Miss Taylor Hebert, for the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. Thank you all for coming. You will be informed when the next auction will be held. Good night." Collecting his papers, the auctioneer made his way out of the room. Hopefully, young Miss Taylor would not be selecting a Gentleman as one of her owners, but if she did, Bartholomew deserved whatever he got. So, all in all, it was a win-win situation, as far as he was concerned, unless the girl did something silly, like undergoing extreme mental modification or choosing to have a shock collar installed.


	5. Recruitment 1:4

Recruitment 1.4

[hr][/hr]

Once they had finished eating, Taylor and Cindy made their way back to the main room so they could continue working on Taylor's contract. "Alright," Cindy began. "We've got one more section of things you want to go through…" she trailed off before concluding, "and I just realized I forgot to go over a pretty important part of the contract." Scrolling to the relevant section, she continued, "Here we go, health and hygiene."

"Shouldn't my body basically take care of itself?" Taylor asked. "That's the point of the nanobots, right?"

"To a degree," Cindy explained. "The nanobots will take care of any unwanted bacteria, dirt, and other substances. You could definitely go without bathing if you wanted to, but it wouldn't be very fun. Unless the 'bots are given alternate programming, which usually doesn't happen, even after the show's over, sexual fluids won't be cleaned until they start to get really disgusting, and massage oil won't be cleaned off until it starts going rancid or gets mixed with dirt or something."

Taylor made a face in disgust. "That doesn't sound pleasant."

"It's not," Cindy agreed. "Now, even for people who decide to never bathe again, it doesn't get too bad, but most people prefer the clean feeling they get from bathing. Besides, you already have a deluxe bathroom selected. You may as well enjoy it, right?"

"Right. So, what are the choices here?" Taylor asked.

"You can either go without, which we've already decided against, or you can get a selection of health care and make-up products. The default is a fairly basic supply of body care, hair care, and make-up supplies. If you want, you can spring for a greatly expanded selection, including a number of very high end products."

Taylor leveled a look at Cindy. "Do I look like I'm particularly worried about make-up?"

"Not really, no. Shall I pencil you in for the basic setup, then?" Cindy asked. At Taylor's agreement, she marked the option before continuing, "Next up is the optional advanced medical care. We do give all of our contestants basic healthcare, and, of course, the repairbots will help, but there's only so much it'll cover. I would highly recommend signing up for it if you plan on doing anything dangerous. They can patch you up from even the worst accidents, so it's a good investment if you think you might end up hurt. Hell, they'll even bring you back from the dead if they need to. It'll also get you up a lot sooner, which is nice when you still have commitments to worry about that won't care if you're currently in a wheelchair."

"Yeah… I think I'll sign up for the better healthcare," Taylor agreed. "That does not sound like fun. What's next?"

"It's pretty pricey," Cindy began, "but if you want, we'll make sure someone is available to give you a massage whenever you like. It feels pretty nice, but, depending on any roommates or neighbors you have, there's easier and cheaper ways to get it, including going to a regular massage parlor."

Taylor blinked in surprise. "Massages cost that much?"

"Granted, they're supposed to be really _good_ massages," Cindy admitted. "I just don't really think they're worth the cost."

"I'll take your word for it," Taylor replied. "I don't really know enough about them to tell one way or another."

"Fair enough. Now, let's move on," Cindy said, " we've got one more section to work through before we start figuring out how to pay for it all."

"Sure, what's next?" Taylor asked.

"Next we'll take a look at all of your entertainment options." Cindy scrolled around the screen again until the Entertainment section was showing. "Now, the first few options are basically redundant. Three of them are basically just variations on music, and getting the cell phone will cover that easily enough, and you'll get to keep it once the show's over."

"No cell phone," Taylor flatly replied.

"Why not?" Cindy asked.

"Mom died because she was talking on one," Taylor quietly explained. "Dad and I haven't had them since."

"Alright," Cindy relented, leaning over to give Taylor a one armed hug. "I'm not going to try to force you to get one if you don't want to." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Cindy said, "Moving on, and I'm sure this is not at all the right mood to be having this discussion, but we do need to keep going, is porn."

"Really?" Taylor asked in disbelief. "Porn?"

Cindy shrugged. "Some people really like watching porn. What can I say? Now, electing to have access to porn doesn't mean you have to ever watch it, but not selecting it would make it impossible for you to do so if you ever decide you do want to. Just something to keep in mind."

"Right," Taylor deadpanned. "I'll think about it. Next?"

"Education. And on that note, have you given my proposal any thought?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah," Taylor said, scowling angrily. "If I don't take the job, someone like Tricher is going to keep doing shit like he did with me, isn't he?"

Cindy scoffed. "He'll keep being an ass no matter where he ends up or what you do. What you can do, however, is prevent him from pulling this shit again on your world.

Taylor sucked in a breath. "Yeah, I though that'd be the case. If I am considering the job, what would I need to do?"

"The actual recruitment seminar only takes about a day," Cindy said. "It's basically about how to spot and approach people who would be more likely to sign up. I'd recommend signing up for at least a course on contract writing. If you could both recruit and write up their contracts, it'd mean you could do everything wherever you wanted, rather than needing to bring your candidate into the office. Hell, if you wanted, you'd be able to write up the entire contract before having them commit at all. They'd be able to decide to walk away, even after making every decision we'd use for the show."

Taylor scowled. "I wish I had had that opportunity. Alright, I'll do it. What else would you recommend?"

"Unfortunately, the equipment we use for educational purposes can't cover very broad subjects, so you wouldn't be able to use it to get out of going back to school once you're back home, but it can get you a few year's worth of knowledge in specific areas. Is there anything you'd want to learn more about?" Cindy asked.

"Well, I do like computer science," Taylor mused. "Though it might be worth learning some Asian languages so I can understand what the ABB are saying when I get back home. Or I could probably learn how to make fabric and clothes, which could be useful when making my eventual costume." She had the orb weaver crawl into view and gestured toward it, "Spider silk is supposed to be stronger than steel, so, if I learned the best way to make fabric with it, I could have costume that was basically armored as well."

Cindy nodded. "And you could probably make a lot of money selling the silk or outfits as well," she added. "Even with the insect queens, we still don't have a good supply of spider silk, at least without it being so labor intensive as to be not at all worth it. Add in the value from being featured on Slut Life and your eventual fame, and anything you make could go for some pretty ridiculous prices."

Taylor blinked. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. "People would really pay that much for something I made?"

"Definitely," Cindy stated firmly. "There is definitely a market for silk gowns that can double as low profile body armor."

"Sign me up for that class, then," Taylor said, still in shock.

"Alright, so we've got you down for legal, clothing manufacture, and what did you want for your third class?" Cindy asked, making some notes on the form. "You might as well take something fun, right?"

"Possibly." Taylor spent a minute thinking. "I think I'd enjoy the computer classes more than the language ones. Besides, without choosing one, it'd probably be too broad a subject, and I don't remember which language is most used back home."

"Seems reasonable," Cindy said agreeably, making a note. "Want to take a short break, or would you prefer to keep going?"

"I wouldn't mind stretching out a bit," Taylor decided. "A lap or two around the station should be enough."

"Sounds fine to me," Cindy replied, standing with Taylor and heading toward the door. "So, jog or walk?"

"I'm still not as fit as I like," Taylor said ruefully. "I'm not sure how long I'd be able to keep up a jog."

"Well, might as well try and see how far you can get, right?" Cindy asked, already moving into a jog as she passed the door.

"Hey!" Taylor yelped. "Wait up!"

[hr][/hr]

"Good evening, everyone," Mistress Fiorenza Campos said into her camera. While most of the owner groups would meet in person, the psychics tended to meet through video conferences. It was considerably safer than trying to cram more than a dozen powerful telepaths into a small room. Looking back at her were two dozen of the finest minds in the universe.

"Good evening, Mistress Fiorenza," the girls chorused. Training the vast majority of the psychics in this region had its advantages, and implanting a suggestion to treat her respectfully at all times into the minds of her pupils was just one of them. It even served as part of their training, as it gave them a goal to work toward: removing the various behavioral modifications and triggers that had been implanted over the years. In fact, doing so was part of the requirements for being considered a Master of the Psionic Arts.

"We have a new contestant?" one of the younger girls asked excitedly. Hm, that one could use a bit more conditioning. She should have waited for her Mistress to give the information, rather than demanding it, even in such a non-demanding fashion. It was possible she was progressing more quickly than expected, but a quick look at her grades made it unlikely in the extreme.

"Yes, Natalie," Fiorenza confirmed, "as you would have known in just a few moments had you but had the patience." Pausing for effect, she added, "The newest candidate is named Taylor Hebert and, based on the paperwork they've sent me, has had a fairly hard life. She also seems to be able to control insects without using magic, so she may be a candidate for Psychic Training."

One of the girls signaled she had a question. Once Fiorenza acknowledged her, she asked, "Does she just control the insects, or is she mind linked with them?"

Fiorenza had to admit that was a decent question. One would imply that she could exert her will over them, while the other meant that she could receive much more information back. It was also a potential weakness, as it'd give others more access to her, and insects would be much less able to maintain a proper ego barrier than even an average human. She flipped through the briefing packet until she found what she was looking for.

"From what the scientists and what our own researchers could work out, they believe that her mind may be linked with the insects through a continent-sized organic supercomputer that's poked into her brain from a parallel universe." She looked up to see that all of the screens were now blank. "I see that I'll be doing a lot of reeducation in the near future," she muttered to herself. "It has been a while since we've checked Jessica and Teresa; they may have progressed far enough to remove their behavior triggers."

"Now, who should I have volunteer?" she mused, flipping through the profiles of various girls she had authority over. "Might as well go with some punishment," she decided. "Natalie really should know better by now. Next time something like this comes up, I think I'll give them fewer details to worry about."

[hr][/hr]

"You didn't do too badly," Cindy said consolingly as she led a winded Taylor back into the room.

"I… never managed… to catch up," Taylor complained through her gasping for air.

"I'd be surprised if you did," Cindy admitted. "My body's been fairly well optimized, and, from what you've said, you haven't been the most active person over the last few years. Don't worry, you'll get better."

"Thanks. So, what's next?" Taylor asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"Next we stretch for a bit so that you don't cramp up," Cindy said. "Come on, I'll help you. I can go over the next few items while you stretch." She beckoned Taylor to sit on the floor and began to work her through a few simple stretches while continuing, "The next section is a variety of sex toys, from a chest full of them to robotic tentacles you can use with an AI, if you get one."

Taylor blinked and then squawked as she was pushed too far for comfort. "Why would I want any of those?" she asked. "From the sounds of it, I'm supposed to be too busy having sex with people to use any of it."

Cindy chuckled. "Yeah, I know, it does feel that way, doesn't it? I've got to say, I ended up using mine less than I thought I would. We can skip it for now and come back to the idea later, if you'd like."

"Sounds good," Taylor agreed. "Gah! I don't bend that way!"

"Sorry, sorry," Cindy apologized. "I guess I'm not really used to normal human limits anymore. Right, moving on. Are you interested in having any alcohol or drugs?"

"No," Taylor said flatly. "Next?"

"Fair enough," Cindy said, taking a moment to scroll the screen down. "Would you like a pet?"

"You mean the insects don't count?" Taylor asked.

"I don't think so, though I should probably check into that," Cindy replied. "Give me a moment; I'm going to send an email to someone in Enforcement and check for you. With any luck, they should be counted as tools or something along those lines." She fiddled with her computer for a moment before turning back to Taylor. "In the meantime, would you be interested in getting a bunch of games?"

"Not really," Taylor replied. "I haven't really had anyone to play with in years, so… yeah."

"Alright, no problem," Cindy agreed. "How about a creative kit, do some drawing or painting?"

Taylor scowled. "Having my projects messed with constantly has kind of ruined art for me, sorry."

Cindy winced, "Yeah, I can see that happening. Next up is a personal library, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort, considering you'll already have access to a much larger one." Taylor nodded her agreement. "Right. Next up is an entertainment system. It's pretty nice, if you're planning on watching movies a lot or if you want to play a lot of video games."

"Not really something I'm interested in," Taylor replied. "Is it just me, or do most of the entertainment options assume I'm going to have tons of free time?"

"It's not just you," Cindy agreed. "A lot of people seem to like taking the no-sleep option and then forget to fill those extra hours with anything meaningful to do. So, lots of movies and games. Of course, they also tend to increase their libidos… a lot… which explains the need for sex toys." They sat in an awkward silence for a moment before Cindy continued, "So, next up is an AI. It can interface with a computer, a phone if you decide to get one, and a number of other items you may have. They're generally useful for keeping a busy schedule straight and keeping track of any number of minor issues. In fact, if you get an advanced sex bot, your AI would be able to use that as its body and help around the house."

"That sounds useful," Taylor decided. "Any downsides?"

"They are fairly expensive," Cindy admitted, "though you can get most of that back by opting to have yours have a more developed will and personality. The only downside with that is that the AI won't be able to be reprogrammed at a whim, though it will be much more human in demeanor."

"I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable being able to just change it's personality whenever I wanted," Taylor admitted. "How is the initial personality chosen?"

"There's two main methods," Cindy explained. "The first is by having you name a fictional AI you like, and the tech people will do their best to match its personality to the source material as much as possible. The second method is what I tend to recommend. You take a fairly intensive survey and they'll build the AI based on your answers. I'd highly recommend answering honestly if you go that direction, though."

"Sounds useful," Taylor decided. "Can you mark that as a maybe?"

"Will do," Cindy agreed. "Now, the next question is, do you want a computer or a tablet?"

"That would definitely be useful," Taylor agreed. "What's the difference between the two?"

Cindy looked over the specifications for the two devices. "Well, the tablet has a lot less power than the computer, but it's also a lot cheaper." She gestured at her laptop and continued, "My preference is for laptops. They're portable, have almost the same power as a full desktop, and is a lot cheaper. Between going with a laptop and doing a cam show for your fans once a week, you can get a good computer for the same price as the crappy tablet, so I don't see a real reason to not do so."

"Modesty?" Taylor asked, blushing at the idea of putting on a show for others.

Cindy gave her a look. "You're already going to have your every action recorded and shown, anyway. I don't see what pretending to do a private show for a fan would actually change."

"Oh," Taylor said. "Fair point. Add it, I guess." She looked at the sheet. "How much more is there?"

"For entertainment? We're almost done," Cindy replied. "Just a few things left, and only one of them I think you'd actually be interested in."

"What about the other two?" Taylor asked.

"Ones a massage chair. That's all it is, though it can be upgraded significantly. All in all, it's more costly than I think you'd be interested in for something you can pay someone else to do for you for a lot less." Taylor nodded her agreement, so Cindy continued. "The second is a sensory deprivation tank. It's supposed to cut off all sound, light, and has you floating in body temp water to suppress touch as well."

"That doesn't sound particularly fun," Taylor noted. "In fact, it sounds like a torture device."

"Yes, well, for safety reasons, you'd be limited to an hour a day at most, and, frankly, it'd be pointless for you anyway," Cindy replied. "What with you being able to sense through your insects and all."

"Good point," Taylor agreed. "What was the last thing?"

"The ability to go outside on your own," Cindy answered. "It's potentially useful, especially if you want to collect more insects, but it is also very expensive. I'd recommend trying to convince one of your roommates to go out with you instead. It'd be easier and much less expensive. I mean, there's ways to make it much less expensive, even to the point where we'd be paying you to go out, but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why not?" Taylor asked.

"Well, one method involves restricting you to public transport," Cindy elaborated, "potentially while bombarding you with funny images. If you laugh, you get spanked. The other would basically ensure everyone knew who you were on sight, and potentially have you marked as free use."

"What do you mean free use?" Taylor asked. "And why does the way you said it fill me with dread?"

"Remember, this is something you'd have to select, and there's basically only two ways to get it," Cindy said to preface. "Being free use basically means that anyone who wants to is able to do pretty much whatever they want with you. I don't recommend it unless you're very much into the idea."

"I'm definitely not interested," Taylor replied, somewhat sickened. "Why would anyone agree to that?"

Cindy shrugged. "Some people are into that kind of thing. It's not something I care for, and I didn't think you would, either. Still, even if you do want to have free reign to go outside, you don't need to put up with that."

"That's good to know," Taylor said. "But I think I'll take your suggestion and try to get people to go with me instead."

"It usually works out fairly well, unless all of your roommates end up being assholes or something, which is unlikely." Cindy paused for a moment before saying, "Anyway, that's it for entertainment options. There's only one more section of things to go through before we'll start working on paying for everything."

Taylor sighed tiredly. "Alright, what is it?"

"Would you like to try any of our experimental drugs?" Cindy asked.

"What part of 'no drugs' did you miss?" Taylor answered snidely.

Cindy waved it off, "Oh, I don't mean recreational drugs. We also develop medicinal drugs, which is what this section's about. You can either pay to have access to them, for either the span of your run or for your entire life, or you can be paid to have mandatory injections or to have nanobots injected that'll continuously make the medication for the rest of your life."

"Why would I want any of that?" Taylor asked incredulously.

"Well," Cindy began, "the drugs do things like increase your libido, sensitivity, or fluid output, so some people enjoy that. I know I do. It's also a good way to gain a lot of credits without having to select as many punishments. I can see why you might be against the idea, but you should keep them in mind. They are an option, that's all."

"Alright," Taylor agreed. "I'll keep it in mind, but I don't think I'm going to be signing up for them."

"No problem," Cindy said, standing. "Anyway, that's probably enough for today. You look pretty tired."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "This is wearing me out more than I thought it would."

"I'll be heading out, then." Cindy packed up her laptop and made her way to the door and added, "I'll see you, alright? Get some sleep and think about any changes you may want to make with what we've come up with so far. You can change it as much as you want before I submit it. Good night, Taylor."

"Good night, Cindy," Taylor replied, stifling a yawn. Once the redhead had left, she made her way to bed, her mind swirling with various possibilities.


	6. Recruitment 1:5

Recruitment 1.5

[hr][/hr]

"Welcome back," Taylor called as Cindy entered the room. "What did you bring me today?" she asked gesturing towards the box where she could feel something crawling around. Based on its movement, she figured it was probably a millipede, but figured she'd ask. It was only polite, after all. "That doesn't feel like a beetle."

"I couldn't find any that'd be worth taking. So I got you an African giant millipede instead," Cindy replied. "You're not having any issues with it, are you?"

"No, everything seems fine," Taylor confirmed.

"That's good. Ready to continue with the contract?" Cindy asked, placing her laptop down on the table and handing Taylor the box.

"Might as well," Taylor replied ruefully even as she let the millipede out of its box. "It's not like I can get out of it by delaying long enough, right?"

"Pretty much," Cindy confirmed. "Even worse, if we take too long, PR will start getting pushy, and actually give us a deadline. Then we'll be rushed, and that's a bad idea when planning the next year of your life."

"Right," Taylor said resolutely. "What's first today?"

"Well," Cindy began, "we need to start working off what you owe. We'll be bouncing around a bit from now on as we try to get everything to balance out, so the question becomes, where do you want to start? Punishments, owners, or jobs?"

"Which do you suggest?" Taylor asked. "None of those sound all that fun to think about."

"I'd go with jobs first, personally," Cindy replied. "The jobs don't tend to be worth very many credits, but they can take up a large portion of your time and will be earning you money."

"Money is good," Taylor agreed. "Sure, let's look at the jobs."

"Alright." The redhead scrolled to the correct section of the document. "So, basically, there's a number of different jobs that you can work at, either full time or part time. Full time jobs will take between four and eight hours a day while part time jobs can be between two and four hours. You won't be able to work more than twelve hours a day, and you'll always have one day off each week." She gestured toward the page and continued, "Now, jobs range anywhere from being a secretary, to being a waitress, to being a maid, or an idol, a magical girl, or a model. Then there's the jobs I don't think you'd be interested in, like being a slave trainer, a cow, or a porn star."

"No," Taylor agreed. "I can't really see myself in porn." She paused for a moment before asking, "What do you mean by magical girl?"

"It's not the safest profession, but it does draw a decent number of viewers," Cindy began. "Basically, you use magic to fight off incursions from other dimensions. If you don't have any magic of your own, there are a number of options for getting empowered, and I understand that a decent amount of the job amounts to sitting around and waiting for something to happen or preparing for the next fight."

Taylor looked at Cindy intently. "So, what you're saying is that they'll give me training, experience, more power to fight with, and pay me to boot?" Cindy nodded. "Where do I sign up?"

"I suspected that would be your response," Cindy replied, "so I already talked with my boss and got him to authorize the full list of options. Now, keep in mind, I was never a magical girl, so I can only give you my opinion based off of what I've read."

Taylor nodded solemnly. "Got it. Now, what are my choices?"

"Right, so, the thing to remember is that each type of magical girl has its own strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes they don't matter particularly much and other times it's more important than you'd believe," Cindy started. "First we have the girls who use planetary mana taps. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but somehow they bind the mana production of a planet to your soul, or something. It provides some protection and a few elementally aligned spells. One of the issues is that there's only so many suitable planets and objects available, so finding an unbound one can be difficult. The power levels can seem fairly arbitrary as well. As far as I can tell, what you'd end up with is essentially a crap shoot."

"Next we have the girls who draw upon an emotional well for their mana," Cindy continued. "It's a fairly regimented process without too many surprises. Basically, you choose which emotion you want to draw on, like hope, joy, or benevolence. They don't like to talk about it, but you can also draw from negative emotions, but I'd suggest steering clear of all of that. Who wants to be angry or depressed all the time, right?" Taylor nodded shakily. "Anyway, they're a fairly diverse lot, though a lot of them share some of the same spells. Overall, they're probably the most balanced in terms of ability, so long as you don't stick them in a large battle with no ability to recharge for long enough. Most of them know to get out of dodge if it gets bad enough, and those that don't can usually tank whatever's attacking them, at least for a little while."

"Moving on, we have soul contracts," Cindy said, some disgust coloring her voice. "You basically agree to have your soul ripped out and placed in a gem to make yourself more durable and give you access to magic. Eventually, they run out of energy and get taken to Magical Girl Valhalla, or something. It's all a bit confusing, and I recommend staying well clear of it."

"I'll pass, thanks," Taylor agreed.

"Then we have two variations on the same basic theme. There's a system of magic that's basically nothing but math that almost anyone can use," Cindy began. "But since pretty much no one can actually do that level of math in their head, on the fly, they employ intelligent devices to handle the number crunching for them. Of course, the better your own math skills, the better they work. How's your math?"

"I've been academically sabotaged for a year and a half," Taylor noted bitterly.

"Probably not the best choice, then. That brings us to magical mecha. Basically, you'd be given a suit of magically powered armor to use. Disadvantages involve anything close quarters and being a bitch to maintain. For some reason, most of the ones we have access to also need you to be good at singing," Cindy continued with a shrug. "I don't get it, but thems the breaks."

"I'm not much of a singer, either," Taylor added.

"Right. Anyway, the next two are also fairly similar. You can either be possessed by a higher power or empowered by one," Cindy said.

"What's the difference?" asked Taylor.

"Basically? The amount of free will you have," Cindy bluntly replied. "When you're possessed, you're basically a meat puppet. Of course, being empowered leaves you at the mercy of the whims of a potentially fickle entity. I wouldn't want to be in the middle of a fight and suddenly find out my patron's on vacation or something."

"I think I'll pass on those two," Taylor noted.

"Well, we're down to the last three," Cindy said, "so we're almost done. You can be granted a bunch of temperamental spirits housed within easily lost artifacts. Up side, they're fairly useful and can act on their own to some extent. Downside, you usually have to track them down, and they can act on their own to some extent.

"You listed that under both columns."

"Yes, yes I did," Cindy replied. "It's great when it helps you, but is a pain when a spirit decides it'd rather not work with you. Moving on, there's a ritual that allows you to tap into your soul for energy to do pretty much anything. It's very versatile, but has a high risk of burnout. And when you burn out your soul… it's not pretty." She paused for a moment before coming to the conclusion. "Finally, we have getting adopted by a magical creature. The bright side is that you'll get an extra parent or two as well as somebody to train you in your new abilities. The down sides include potential inhuman features, if you aren't into that sort of things, and inheriting weaknesses, curses, and debts from your new parent."

"That's a lot to take in," Taylor commented.

"It is," Cindy agreed. "Feel free to take your time thinking about it."

"That emotional one you mentioned sounds like it has the least downsides," Taylor mused. "Is there a way to tell what I could use as a power source?"

"Yes. There is," Cindy replied, pulling a small ring with three set stones out of her pocket. "This is a magical mood ring. According to the directions, if you wear it, the stones will change color to match your predominant emotions. Want to give it a try?"

"Sure," Taylor said, taking the ring. She slipped it on and looked down at it intently. After a minute or so, she asked, "Do you know how long this is supposed to take?"

Reaching into her pocket again, Cindy retrieved the paper. "It says it could take anywhere up to five minutes. If, at that time, nothing has changed, you might not have any emotion strong enough to be of use, though that's apparently very rare and usually a sign of a sociopath."

"Oh, wonderful," Taylor griped as she watched the stones on the ring. Finally, the middle stone turned a bright red, followed by the stone on the left fluctuating between a blue and a yellow before turning a solid grayish blue, and the last gem turning a mustard yellow a moment later.. "It worked!" Taylor exclaimed excitedly. "What does it mean?"

"According to the directions," Cindy began, flipping the instruction sheet over, "those colors correspond with Will, Despair, and Obsession."

"That doesn't sound good," Taylor said, worrying her lip.

"It's not bad, per se," Cindy replied, "though it should mean you can choose whether you want to be a light or a dark magical girl." She shrugged and added, "I don't know enough about help you make any choices along those lines, though. What I can do is get an expert up here to help you make the decision."

"That'd be helpful, thanks."

"I might want to send up two girls, one light and one dark," Cindy mused. "Give you the full explanation so you can make an informed decision." She shrugged. "I'll see what I can do." Flipping to another window on her laptop, she shot off a short message before returning to the contract form.

"Thanks. So, think I should take a second job as well?" Taylor asked.

"Possibly, though if you do take a second job, I recommend making it a part time one," Cindy replied. "Otherwise you'll have no free time to yourself, and the jobs that you could do full time are ones I can't see you wanting to do, like being a porn star."

Taylor nodded. "I'm definitely not interested in that," she agreed. "So, I guess we'll put the second job aside for now and move on to whatever's next."

"The next bit basically modifies your employment somewhat," Cindy explained. "You can give yourself a substantial raise, though that'll cost quite a number of credits, you can have it set up so you can change jobs whenever you'd like, we can have them pay you throughout the year instead of all at once at the end of the show, and there's an option to donate nearly a third of what you earn to charity."

"Do I get to choose the charity?" Taylor asked. "Because if I could get some funds sent to a few charities in Brockton Bay to help keep people out of crime, that would be great."

"I'll have to check, but I don't think that'd be an issue," Cindy replied. "We're trying to expand into that part of the multiverse anyway, so working with or starting a local charity can't hurt our PR any. I'll bring it up with the execs and let you know."

"Thanks," Taylor said. "And it looks like doing that and getting the raise would get more money for the charity and me, while netting me more credits."

"Of course, if you want to spend that money over the course of the year, you'll end up spending more credits," Cindy added, "though that may be useful for you, especially if you want to set up a lot of terrariums for all the bugs it you want to collect."

Taylor looked at the costs of the various options and winced. "Yeah, that looks like it's a bit steep. Probably still worth it, though. Mark me down for everything but the resume. It doesn't look all that useful."

Cindy made a few notations on the screen. "And done. What do you want to cover next? Punishments or Owners?"

Taylor sighed heavily. "We might as well get the owners out of the way. Best to know what I'm getting into with them before choosing whatever punishments they can dole out, right?"

"That's… not quite how the punishments work, but it's a reasonable enough idea," Cindy commented. "Let me just scroll back up, and there we go. We've got about thirty-eight positions for you to choose from, with each category worth a certain number of credits based on how difficult keeping them satisfied is likely to be, how physically taxing it will be for you, and a few other factors. It's nicely listed from least to most credits. Where would you like to start?"

"We might as well start at the top and work our way down," Taylor decided. "I don't think I'll be choosing any of them until we get through the whole list."

"That'll work," Cindy agreed. "The first two won't get you any credits if you pick them, but they also won't expect you to do very much with them, either. First up, we have a Gentleman. He won't do anything too bad with you. They're a traditional lot and prefer to wait until marriage. They also leave messages for the contestants in order to make a good impression." She clicked on the photo of a well dressed man and frowned. "That's odd. No message. I've never seen that happen before."

"Figures," Taylor muttered dejectedly. Sure, she wasn't looking for someone to marry, but to not even rate a message? "Who's next?"

"Next is the Cutie," Cindy said. "They tend to be looking for friends more than anything else. They'd want to go shopping with you, visit amusement parks, things like that. Honestly, I think it'd be a good choice for you." She clicked on the photo of a cute girl in a fairly simple outfit. "Though this one looks a bit more restrained than most I've seen. Oh, and she left you a message. Here, I'll play it for you." She clicked on a small icon, causing a video window to open on the screen.

"Hello, Taylor," the girl began. "I know you don't know me and all, but I'd love to get to know you! When we heard about you at the Cutie meeting, everyone else was scared off by your bugs, but I like bugs!" She gestured towards a green splotch on her hair. "It'd be so much fun going around, finding new bugs while we have fun around the city! I've only just gotten back from Beelzajaab, where my father was filming a documentary, so I haven't really had a chance to make very many friends yet, so when I learned about the Cutie program I had to sign up. I'd really like to be your friend, so please pick me!" The green splotch unfolded its wings and the praying mantis flew off to land on her outstretched hand.

"Well," Cindy commented as the message finished, "she certainly sounds earnest. And if she's been on Beelzajaab for any amount of time and can still say she likes bugs, you won't have to worry about scaring her off if you start a swarm or something."

"I don't know," Taylor hedged. "My last friendship didn't go so well."

"She looks like she could use a friend, too," Cindy noted. "The documentary she's talking about lasted something like a decade, so she hasn't been around many people until recently. You'd probably be good for each other. Besides, if she wants to spend time looking for bugs, she'll get you out of your apartment more often. Hell, she might even be able to get her hands on some of the more interesting specimens you're not likely to find on your own." Sighing, she added, "Just think about it, alright?"

"Fine," Taylor relented, and Cindy made a note on the form. "Who's next?"

"Lets see," Cindy said, scrolling down slightly. "You can choose to have another contestant be your owner, which can be either awkward or great, depending on how well your personalities and preferences mesh. It's similar to the Cutie, but with much less certainty. They also tend to wait until the last minute to pick anyone, so there's no message. It's a bit of a gamble, especially for only five credits. Personally, I'd probably pass if I were you."

"Noted. Next?"

"Next up is the Girly Trainer," Cindy explained. "They basically try force you to act more feminine. It's typically for girly boys and futas. Probably not worth the effort. Let's see. I'm pretty sure we can skip Significant Other as an option." She paused for a moment to get confirmation from Taylor before continuing. "After that is opting for a hypnotist. As a bright side, they're all trained psychologists. Unfortunately, most of them have lost their licenses for various reasons. If you want a shrink, I'd suggest using some of your paycheck and hiring a decent one." She paused for a moment before adding, "Or use your advanced healthcare. It does cover mental health, after all. That way you won't wake up one day thinking you're a chicken or something."

Taylor shuddered. "No thanks, I'd rather not sign up to get Mastered."

"That's a problem back where you're from?" Cindy asked.

"Definitely," Taylor agreed. "There's a reason I didn't want to become telepathic."

"That's definitely good to know," Cindy replied, typing into another window. "We'll let the eggheads know and see if they can work anything out." Flipping back to the contract form, she continued, "Moving on, we have a futanari."

"A what?" Taylor asked, before taking a better look at the picture. "Oh, so that's what you call it. Is that common here?"

Cindy shrugged. "A fair number of people find it interesting enough that we have specialized punishments that revolve around the contestant being one. From what I understand, having both sets of genitals stimulated at once is quite the experience. Though most of the futanari in this group are that way naturally and are fairly embarrassed by it. They're much like the Cuties in that they're primarily looking for companionship, though they'd prefer it to be a physical relationship as well, if possible. All told, not a bad choice, and, if you have one as your roommate, it means you'll have a dick on tap when you need one."

"That's nice?" Taylor asked awkwardly. "Does that come up a lot?"

Nodding, Cindy replied, "More than you'd think, especially if you choose certain punishments. Want me to add her to the maybe pile? I know they won't give you much for choosing her, but I think you could use a few more friendly faces around."

"The maybe list sounds fine," Taylor agreed. "That's not really something I'm looking for, but if she's mostly interested in friendship, I guess that wouldn't be too bad."

Cindy made notation before scrolling the screen down a little more. "Finally, we have a nice married couple who can't have kids of their own, but want a daughter. They come in two flavors, incestuous and not." Clicking on the picture, she added, "And they seem to have left you a message. That's unusual." She clicked on the message, causing a video to pop up.

"Hello, Taylor," the man said. He gestured towards his wife and himself before continuing, "We're Edgar and Jean Marek, and we would be honored if you'd consider being our daughter for the ensuing year. Once we learned you controlled insects, we knew we'd be the perfect couple to take care of you."

His wife, Jean, continued, "You see, we're a family of beekeepers, so we have plenty of insects around for you to play with, and you could help us with our bees. Now, we know there's an option to have a pair of parents who will," she blushes deeply, "play with you more than the average parent would, and we wouldn't normally be interested in that arrangement, but, for you, we'd be willing to give it a try, if that's what you'd be interested in."

Edgar started speaking again, "We know you have your own parents back home, and we wouldn't want to replace them, but please consider us as an option." The pair waved cheerfully and the video stopped.

"Is it just me, or are most of the people who want to be my owner just interested because I can control bugs?" Taylor asked incredulously.

Cindy coughed into her hand. "Ah, that… I'm pretty sure when each of the groups gathered and chose who would be presented as potential… hosts… they included what you can do in the briefing notes. So, pretty much anyone volunteering is going to be fine with your bugs, unless they were volunteered, and will probably want you to know it."

"Figures," Taylor muttered. "Anyway, they seem nice enough, but I think I'll pass. I don't want to replace Dad, even for a little while."

"Fair enough," Cindy agreed. "Well, that takes care of the five credit owners. Want to take a break?"

Taylor stretched in her seat for a moment before ruefully admitting, "I could use another jog to loosen up." The two stood and made their way to the corridor to run a few laps around the station.

[hr][/hr]


	7. Recruitment 1:6

Recruitment 1.6

[hr][/hr]

"Hello everyone," Professor Moshe Darwin began, looking over the veritable sea of fellow men, women, and others of science, both in person and on screens. "We have something of an oddity to discuss."

"You're referring to Slut Life's new contestant, yes?" one of the other scientists asked.

Darwin nodded in his direction. "That is correct. Taylor Hebert has already proven to be quite the interesting specimen. As I am sure most of you are aware, she is from a section of the multiverse we have not previously examined. This, in and of itself, is nothing new. For those who have not been following recent developments as closely as others, she has an extradimensional probe implanted in her brain, leading back to a parallel world. This probe is only a minuscule fraction of what we have determined to be an organic supercomputer the size of a continent." He paused for a moment to let the excited muttering subside.

"Is it causing any undue influence on the subject?" called out one of the scientists, who was fingering her Trilobite pendant.

"We suspect so," Darwin confirmed, "though we are unsure to what extent. So far, all we have observed is that the subject is capable of directing every arthropod within her radius and receives sensory data in return. However, based on the preliminary reports concerning her world, it seems likely that the connection promotes violence to some unknown end."

Clearing his throat, Darwin continued. "Now, this selection process is going to be slightly different than usual. I know we usually all submit our ideas to a panel and have them select what they think would be most useful for the show or what would get the best ratings. This time, however, they want us to be more focused on analyzing this anomaly than testing any new procedures."

"Do we know where she's going to be based?" a scientist with floating lightning bolt epaulets asked over one of the video screens. "It would be a shame if she were based in the Xaglerth sector. We wouldn't be able to learn anything there."

"No," Darwin replied. "We have no plans of sending her to Xaglerth or any of the other more restrictive sectors. We might not even be able to get her off of Earth, actually," he admitted. "That is going to be the first challenge for whoever takes this assignment, along with anyone else who would like to add their expertise to the attempt."

"Is the issue with Miss Hebert or with the organic supercomputer?" another scientist asked, tipping his green and white striped hat back.

"If it's with the computer," the scientist with the epaulets commented, "I may be able to help with the transport, though I am, unfortunately, unable to devote myself to a long term research project at this time."

"Ah, thank you, Captain Andreyasn," Darwin replied. "That would be much appreciated. Now that transportation has been taken care of, we'll still need to make sure transporting the computer won't cause any major errors. It'd be horrible to get it moved and then have it stop working because it has an equivalent to DRM."

"I might know a someone," a wrinkled old man announced. "He's a bit of a whippersnapper, but he should be able to do the job."

"And he's not here?" another scientist called out mockingly. "What good could he be?"

"He's the best hacker I've ever met," the wrinkly man insisted. "He's also even lazier than my damn great grand uncle. But he'll help us, if we pose it as a challenge."

"Good, now that that's been settled," Darwin began, stopping anyone else from posing any objections, "who here is interested in a long term research project? Please indicate if you are."

About ten hands went up. "Alright, the lot of you, work out who'll be the lead scientist and contact point for Miss Hebert. The rest of you can either follow their lead or wait until we get another project."

One of the ten held up a hand again and called out, "How are we going to ensure we will have access to the subject?"

"Oh, that part will be simple," Darwin replied. "We're going to bribe her."

[hr][/hr]

Once Taylor and Cindy were seated comfortably in the main room again, they got right down to business. "Now, I don't have any say in who is worth how much," Cindy began, "but I have to admit I find it strange that we only have two owners worth ten credits each, and I don't think you'd be interested in either of them. First we have the Pet Owner. They are very into pet play and will treat you like a dog or a cat or something. Sure, you'd get lots of attention and affection, but they also tend to take their pets for walks in the park… naked and on all fours, leash included."

"I'm definitely not interested in that," Taylor agreed.

Cindy nodded, moving on. "And the other ten credit owner is a yandere."

"What is a yandere?"

"I'm not sure the best way to describe it," Cindy replied. After a few moments of thought, she tried, "Basically, a yandere is one of those creepy stalker types. If you pay attention to them, they'll be all sweet and pleasant, but they do not like it if you have any other owners. Or friends. Or a job that takes you away from them. And when they're unhappy, they tend to get violent."

Taylor blinked. "Why is that even an option?"

Cindy shrugged. "Like I said, they're rather sweet so long as you don't push any of their buttons. Some people like that kind of thing and it can be good for ratings."

"But… why?" Taylor asked. Even with how lonely she was she wouldn't want someone like that as a best friend. Probably. Not if she had warning before hand and other choices, at least. "Don't answer that. Let's just move on. What's next?"

Scrolling down the screen, Cindy said, "We've got five owners worth fifteen credits. First we've got a horny old man, whose primary concern would be to fuck you as much as possible. They tend to be a bit dirty and smelly, and generally unpleasant. If you want a thorough dicking, they're not the worst choice, but there's still better choices. Next we have a former empress. I'm not sure why we have so many of them floating around, but they're all bossy and feel superior to everyone else. They've… also left a note saying that if you select one of them, someone would be provided but they ask that you look elsewhere if at all possible. Huh. Odd."

"I seem to be getting that reaction a lot, too," Taylor griped sourly.

"Moving on," Cindy said, "we've got two monster-types. First is a slime girl. They're all fairly interchangeable and are kind, cheerful, and playful. The only problem is that their idea of play usually involves engulfing you and filling any orifice they can find. Not unpleasant, necessarily, but it's definitely a different experience. Still, they're fairly easy to deal with. The other monster type is a tentacle monster. They're very much plant like, and have vine-like tentacles that seek out moisture, which, in practice, means they'll fill every hole and try to milk any dicks you might have and will go after your tits if you're lactating. Of the two, I'd pick the slime girl. She'd be much more gentle and can kind of be considered a form of massage."

"I could probably put up with the slime girl," Taylor decided after a few moments of consideration. "I'm not sure I'd enjoy the others you've mentioned so far from this batch. What are the other two options?"

"First we have a witch," Cindy continued. "For some reason, a lot of them end up cursed, enchanted, or something, with an extremely overactive libido during the early years of their training. They tend to be sexually demanding and can tire most people out. It also doesn't help that they still like to practice their magic whenever they can. It can get pretty surreal at times. It's lot of fun for someone who's fairly adventurous, but keeping up with a witch is definitely a chore."

"I'll pass for now," Taylor dryly said. "What's the last option?"

"Siblings," Cindy said bluntly before elaborating. "If you want, our scientists can take some of your DNA, modify it a little, and grow you two new siblings. We'll also implant them with information based off of your memories so that it'll be like they actually grew up with you. If you've ever wanted a little sister or brother, it's a pretty good deal, and with the setup we're using for you, they shouldn't have any difficulty in going back home with you, if that's what you and they want."

"That… I'm not really sure I like the sound of that," Taylor hedged. "Is it really alright to make people just for the show?"

"If it were just for the show, I'd say no," Cindy replied, "but you've already decided to keep your apartment when your year is up, so you can just as easily have your new siblings stay on. Besides, even if a contestant decided to not keep their siblings, it' not like we kill them or anything. They're still people. We train them up and get them jobs."

"I did always want a sister," Taylor admitted. "I mean, growing up there was always..." she trailed off sadly. "Still, having siblings could be neat. Can you add them to my maybe list?"

"Sure, no problem," Cindy said, making a note. "That also finishes off the fifteen credit owners. Do you want to take a break or push through the five twenty credit owners?"

Taylor shifted a bit in her seat, testing how stiff she was. "I'm good to go on. What's up for the next batch?"

"Well," Cindy began, looking over the screen. "The first one is a tentacle monster… because I misread the form earlier. Maybe we should take a break after this set, because I don't want to be misreading things and giving you bad information."

Taylor shrugged. "I guess we could take a break, if it'll help. If you want to finish up these ones first, that's fine."

"Let's get through this section and see how we both feel," Cindy decided. "First up we have a supervillain… who is worth no credits. Really? Why is he even in this section? So, I guess covering him in bees or something could be amusing, but I don't think it's worth any consideration, especially if they aren't even going to bother giving you anything for putting up with that nonsense." She scrolled the screen up and down for a moment before saying, "And next up we have a brand new sexbot, straight off the production lines. They're part of our generic production model, so they all have a fairly basic AI and need to train on actual people to refine their code. It's not too bad of a gig, though it may be a bit on the rough side starting out."

"They can't just fix the bugs on one and copy that programming to the others?" Taylor asked.

"Most people prefer a more natural sexbot," Cindy explained, "which you can only really get by having them learn organically."

"I guess that makes sense. So, who else is in this set?" Taylor asked.

"Next up, we have four different flavors of dominatrices, including one in the twenty-five credit bracket," Cindy replied. "And they left a note. Apparently, they don't think they'd be able to work with you appropriately, though the Engineer Dominatrices are interested in having you stress test some of their equipment at some point. Apparently they've had trouble with ants causing shorts in the past and think you'd be able to help them improve their products."

Taylor blinked in confusion. "How often do entire groups of people decide they don't want to deal with someone?"

"Not terribly often," Cindy admitted. "It's usually only when they think they'd cause more harm than good, or when they think the contestant could be dangerous to them. Even then, you're a special case. No amount of tying you up or restraining you in exotic materials is going to stop you from being able to retaliate if they push you the wrong way and don't notice in time." She smirked and continued, "That's why only the engineer is at all interested in working with you. They can conduct their work from a mile away without any issue, while the others would need to be in the same room as you. And half of what the engineers want you for is making their equipment more robust." After a moment of thought, she added, "I'm sure some of the other groups will still nominate somebody, just in case you want them as your owners."

"Oh… that's nice." Taylor looked over the images still on the screen before asking, "So, since none of them are interested, what's next?"

"Right," Cindy said, scrolling the screen down. "Next up we have the agents. I'm reasonably sure most of them are not actually working for the government, but you never know for sure. They'd act as your handler, sending you out into the city to conduct missions, that are basically excuses for some exhibitionist behavior. They tend to get more and more extreme as time goes on, but, with just a year, they probably wouldn't have time to get too far… or they'd speed up their timeline. All in all, it can be a lot of fun, but you definitely need to be into that kind of thing to get the most out of it."

"That doesn't sound particularly fun," Taylor decided. "I think I'll pass."

"Right. Well, next up is… come on, really?" Cindy demanded. "Who drew up this contract, anyway? This is what I get for grabbing the current standard contract."

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked.

"The next one up is an amazon, who also isn't worth any credits," Cindy spat. "Seriously, why didn't they put all of the zero-credit choices together? Anyway, the amazons are into dominance play, so they'll tend to pin you down and force you to get off. On the bright side, they'd probably consider the bugs a challenge."

Taylor blanched. "Why aren't they worth some amount of credits?" she asked. "That sounds a lot more intensive than some of the others you mentioned."

Cindy shrugged. "I don't know. It could be a typo or programming error, but, unfortunately, I don't see that changing anything in your contract. I will definitely be bringing it up later to see what is going on with it, though."

"That's good," Taylor said. "Where were we again? We're part way through the twenty-five credit owners, now, right?"

"Yes," Cindy confirmed. "We have three more listed, but one of them is grayed out, which is unprecedented, as far as I know. Let's see why." She clicked on the grayed out option and a popup flashed across the screen.

"Option restricted due to safety concerns?" Taylor asked incredulously. "It's because I control bugs, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Cindy agreed, "though this time it wasn't the owners making the choice. That's an Executive Lockout." She looked at the option again before adding, "I think it's because you might be able to, how did you put it, Master an Insect Queen, and we have no idea what effect that would have on either of you."

"Insect Queens are literal insects, aren't they?" Taylor asked.

"Yes, yes they are."

"Probably for the best, then," Taylor decided. "What's next?"

"Next up is a zookeeper," Cindy continued, moving to the next graphic on the screen. "It's definitely a good choice if your into beasti… and you're obviously not," she trailed off noticing Taylor's sickened expression. "Moving on, we have a collection of mad scientists."

"They're looking for an experimental subject, aren't they?" Taylor asked.

"Usually," Cindy agreed. "If it helps, they're contractually required to return you to normal. Eventually. If you want them to." Looking at the screen, she noticed a flashing icon. "Hang on for a moment, it looks like they have a message for you." She clicked on the icon, causing video to start.

"Good day, Miss Hebert. My name is Professor Moshe Darwin, and I am the Dean of Mad Science, for lack of a better word," the man began. "Typically, this message would include some of the more interesting experiments and procedures we would like to test on you and rely on your sense of scientific or morbid curiosity to have you select one of our number. If you were a normal candidate, the scientist who had the most interesting ideas would be here suggesting them." He paused for effect before continuing. "Frankly, my dear, you are not a typical candidate. No, you represent something very unusual and much more interesting. You, young lady, are an oddity."

"Wonderful," Taylor muttered to herself in the pause Professor Darwin had left.

"To that end, we have decided that you represent a much better opportunity for research than for experimentation," Darwin continued. "As such, if you deign to select this option for your owner, Dr. Patience Warner will head a team of ten scientists to conduct the research." He paused for a moment and continued, "We've already learned some fascinating things about the source of your abilities, and we are very much interested in learning more. We would, of course, share any findings with you. And, to sweeten the deal, we've come to an arrangement with the Slut Life executives."

"Due to some potential… issues…" the scientist began, "revolving around the source of your powers and their intention to continue having candidates from your corner of the multiverse, we'll be able to supply you an additional twenty credits if you sign on with us. Additionally, if you agree to test a few of our more… risky… theories, we will increase your reward by another twenty credits. If you need any more details while making your decision, don't hesitate to contact me. We look forward to working with you in the future. Thank you for your contribution to Multiversal Science."

Taylor stared at the screen as the video stopped. "That's not normal, is it?" she asked.

"No, it really isn't," Cindy agreed. "I can't remember it ever happening before." Standing, she continued, "I need to check with my boss to see if this is legit. I'll be back shortly, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," Taylor agreed. "And see if you can find out what they'd want to test, alright? I'd rather have a decent idea of what I'd be getting into before I make any decisions about that."

"Will do," Cindy asserted, quickly packing up her equipment and making her way to the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can with some answers for you."


	8. Recruitment 1:7

Recruitment 1.7

[hr][/hr]

Cindy made her way through Slut Life's corporate offices with purposeful strides. She was on a mission of information, and she would not be denied.

"Hey, there, Cindy," Jacob Tricher called, stepping into her path. "How goes our newest star?" Cindy didn't even pause, turning slightly so that her shoulder caught his side as she stepped around him. He wasn't worth the time right now, and slowing to deal with him was not an option. "Hey!" he yelped in shock, his coffee cup sloshing its contents over his suit. "Damn it, now I'll need to get this dry cleaned again," he whined, rushing off to find some paper towels.

Coming to Bob Ross's office, she stopped in front of the secretary. "Is Mister Ross available?" she asked, barely keeping her agitation in check. Based on how the secretary's eyes widened, she figured it was still noticeable.

"Let me check for you," the secretary said. Picking up her phone and pushing one of the buttons, she waited a moment before saying, "Sir, Miss Matos is here to speak with you." She waited for a reply before turning back to Cindy. "He says he has a few minutes, so you can head right in."

"Thank you," Cindy answered before making her way into the office.

"Ah, Cindy," Ross exclaimed. "This is earlier than usual. Did something happen with Miss Hebert?"

"Yes," Cindy replied, trying to force herself to calm down. Shouting wouldn't help anything at this point. "There's been a few irregularities in her contract form, and the science types are trying to bribe her, supposedly with permission from us."

"Hm," Ross mused, starting to sort through a number of files and papers on his desk, "why don't you have a seat while I see what I can find. I don't recall there being anything especially strange, other than the Insect Queens, but I might have forgotten something I rubber stamped."

"So they really think she'd be able to control the queens?" Cindy asked.

"It's a possibility," Ross replied, still shuffling through his papers. "We still don't know what her limits are, and it'd be irresponsible to set one of the queens up to get controlled before we at least know how long the control lasts. I believe one of them may volunteer to be around her for a short time in control conditions should the opportunity present itself, though." Putting a small pile of papers down in front of him, Ross turned to his computer and began searching his emails and memos for pertinent details.

"That makes sense," Cindy acknowledged. "But what about the others? I found multiple owner candidates in the form that were in the wrong place or were given the wrong credit values. I know the form is set up to show the owners from lowest to highest credit value, so why did some of the no credit owners end up further down the list?"

Pausing in his computer search for a moment, Ross picked a few pages out of the stack. "Here is the paperwork pertaining to the amazon and the supervillain. Both parties decided that Miss Hebert's abilities would not deter them from participating, provided they be provided additional compensation. I signed off on the compensation, but some bean counter in accounting decided it'd be best to take it from Miss Hebert's allotment instead of using additional funds."

"I can't really blame them for wanting to be paid more," Cindy noted, "but taking it from Taylor doesn't really make sense. Unless they were trying to ensure she didn't choose them, of course."

"That would be my thought as well," Ross agreed. "Nothing we can do for it now, though. The contract would need top level authorization to be changed at this point. Several levels above my own authorization, in fact."

"And that brings me up to the bigger question," Cindy commented. "What the hell are the scientists up to?"

"What indeed," Ross murmured. "I think I just found the right email. Give me a moment, there's some confidential information in it, so I'll need to see if you're cleared for any of it first."

Cindy blinked at that. "Shouldn't I be cleared for everything involving Taylor? How am I supposed to help her without accurate information?"

Ross grimaced. "Unfortunately, there's a few things about Miss Hebert that are outside the usual non-disclosure agreements."

"If that's the case," Cindy said testily. "Can't I just sign a few more?"

"Let me check with the higher ups," Ross began, "if they approve, I can bring you further in, but if not, you're going to need to drop it."

"The higher ups?" Cindy asked incredulously. "How much higher do you mean? You're one of the senior executives!" A second later, a thought clicked into place. "Oh. You mean _those_ higher ups, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Ross agreed. "I've already sent them an email. Hopefully they'll respond quickly." Shaking his head, he added, "They know a lot more than they're willing to share. They could answer a number of the questions the scientists have already, but they won't. Both because they don't think it's that important for us to know and because the scientists would resent being denied the fun of finding out for themselves."

Cindy blinked in surprise. "That sounds like the ones I've met," she finally agreed. "So, while we wait on that email, what can you tell me?"

"Not terribly much," Ross admitted. "Now, give me a moment, I need to see what the scientists have already figured out. That should be going semi-public soon enough, so it should be a safe starting point." Turning away from Cindy, he began reading through the email.

"That'll be a good start," Cindy commented, "considering they're the ones trying to get Taylor to sign up to be their lab subject." She settled down to wait. A minute later, she poked at the Newton's Cradle on Ross's desk, setting it to swinging with a rhythmic 'clack clack.'

Finally, Ross turned back to his subordinate. "As far as I can tell, you should be cleared for everything the research teams have already discovered." Pausing for a moment, he began explaining, "Taylor Hebert has what appears to be two extra lobes in her brain. On Earth Bet, they refer to these lobes as the Corona Pollentia and the Gemma. The researchers don't know those names, but it is common knowledge on Bet, so Miss Hebert should know them. What she doesn't know, however, is that those structures form a link between her and an organic supercomputer on a parallel Earth."

"I'm… not sure how to take that," Cindy admitted. "Is that going to cause any problems for her?"

Bob Ross spread his hands in front of him. "Our scientists don't know. They suspect that there's a limit to how far away Taylor can be from the computer before the connection snaps. They're also reasonably sure that this would be a bad thing, possibly fatal."

"So she'd need to stay on Earth," Cindy stated. "But we're using a standard contract form. It's not set up to handle a contestant on a twenty-four hour day cycle. Damn it, I'm going to have to head over to Legal and pick up a new contract so we can start again, aren't I?" Consideringly, she noted, "At least it might let us fix some of the oddities I've been finding in the contract.

Ross shook his head. "I'm afraid most of the changes our contract designers came up with would stay, even with a new contract. Still, it's not quite to the point of needing a new one, yet," he temporized, "assuming Miss Hebert is willing to take a bit of a risk. Now, before I explain what they want to try, let me go over the initial offer."

"Alright," Cindy replied. "I'm listening."

"Miss Hebert is the first person we've seen with this type of organic computer interface. As such, they'd like to study it more. This would, of course, be non-invasive, unless she gives explicit permission for specific tests. They aren't going to vivisect her, or anything extreme like that."

"I'm sure she'll find that reassuring," Cindy dryly replied.

"Now," Ross continued, ignoring the snark, "what they would like to do is attempt to move the computer with her, probably to an alternate, uninhabited version of whatever planet we send her to, or at least a nearby planetary body. Finding places to keep a continent sized organism is harder than you'd think."

"Continent sized?" Cindy exclaimed in shock.

"Yes," Ross confirmed. "There's a reason we won't be trying to stash it into a Capsule or something." Continuing, he said, "Now, that leaves another issue. They don't know what kind of programming the computer has, so they can't be sure it has any form of restrictions that would cause it to stop functioning should it be moved."

"Which would be bad," Cindy noted.

"Very," Ross agreed. "To that end, they plan on contracting a hacker to look around and see if any issues can be headed off. If not, the scheduled move would, of course, be canceled."

"So most of the risk is from the hacking attempt?" Cindy asked.

"Mostly," Ross agreed. "He really is quite the excellent hacker, or so I've been informed, and will be instructed to back out if he thinks he's about to trigger any fail-safes or booby traps, so the risk will be minimized. Of course, there's also a potential issue with the transport, but once proper contact has been established, that should be relatively easy to mitigate."

"I take it you want me to convince Taylor to accept?" Cindy asked.

"If you can convince her without unduly worrying her, that would be preferable," Ross agreed. He paused for a moment, looking intently at his computer screen. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Apparently, the higher ups feel you should have all the information you need to perform your duties to the best of your abilities. They fear informing you of more would be ill advised. Frankly, I agree with them, to a degree."

Cindy was crestfallen. "I thought you have faith in me," she muttered.

"Oh, I do," Ross said. "As much as I would like to tell you everything I know, I also wish I didn't know it. If you ever climb higher in the Society, remember this. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss. I'm sure you sleep much better at night than I do."

Cindy was about to angrily retort when she paused to really look at her boss. In that instance, he looked much older and worn down, as though a heavy weight had been piled upon his shoulders and he kept the world from noticing through sheer force of will. "I'll keep that in mind, sir."

"You do that," Ross said, straightening up. For a moment, Cindy wondered if she had imagined things. A close look at Ross's eyes belied that notion, however. They looked far older than she remembered them being even a few minutes before, as though he was no longer hiding a part of himself from her. "Now, I think you've left Miss Hebert alone long enough." Reaching under his desk, he pulled out a small box, placing it on the desk. "Here's a little apology gift for Miss Hebert. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"What is it?" Cindy asked, taking the box and carefully not shaking it. Any gift for Taylor had even odds of being alive.

"I think I'll leave that as a surprise for the both of you," he replied with a smirk. "Now, off with you." Taking the hint, Cindy picked up the rest of her things and made her way out of the office. Once his subordinate had left the office, Ross slumped from fatigue. "Sometimes I hate my job and what I have to do for it."

[hr][/hr]

Back on the space station, Taylor was getting rather bored. She was currently in the gym, jogging on the treadmill while her crickets attempted to chirp out 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. It was still a work in progress, but she was getting closer. Still, there was only so much exercise she could stomach at one time, and that point was quickly approaching.

"Hello!" a voice called from the hallway, surprising her and causing her to stumble. She managed to catch herself on the railings before she fell on her face. Shutting off the treadmill, she made her way out of the room as the voice continued, "Where are you!"

"Damn it, Liana," another voice said. "We should at least try to act civilly."

Taylor warily made her way toward the voices. There was probably a guard or something on the access point to the station, but that didn't mean these people hadn't just overpowered the guard.

"Come on, Meagan," the other voice whined. "I am being civil! I just want to get started, that's all."

"Hello?" Taylor called. It was obvious they were here for her, so there wasn't really any point in not greeting them. After all, there weren't enough hiding spots if they were out to get her.

Two young girls in strange outfits came around the corner. One was wearing a smooth, wine red outfit that looked like it wouldn't restrict her movements at all, while the other wearing a surprising poofy outfit and a large witch's hat. Both of the girls looked like they couldn't be much older than thirteen.

"Ah, there you are," the girl in the hat said. "You must be Taylor. We were told you wanted an introduction to Emotional Magics."

"Are you two magical girls, then?" Taylor asked.

"That's right," the girl without a hat replied. "I'm Meagan, and this is my partner Liana. We were chosen to give you a bit of help for two reasons."

"First, we're each powered by one of the pits… or wells… that you can access," Liana began.

"And," Meagan continued, "we can provide you an important insight: light and dark magical girls can work together." After a pause, she said, "I use the Well of Will, which, according to the paperwork we received, is your largest emotional pool."

"And I take my power from the Pit of Obsession," Liana finished. "Without seeing the ring in use, we can't be sure if you're better suited for Obsession or Despair, but lets face it, of the Pits, Obsession is definitely the least worrisome, at least if you channel it correctly." Turning toward Meagan, she asked, "Isn't that right, Snookems?"

Meagan sighed. "Yes, I'm one of Liana's obsessions. The upshot of that is that I have an easier time calming her down and it makes it really easy for her to gather energy. The downside is that she's a bit… possessive."

When Taylor looked at Liana questioningly, she just shrugged. "I figured it was better than obsessing over a boy band or something. That shit can get creepy."

"You already get creepy enough as it is," Meagan said with a sigh. "Anyway, before we inadvertently scare her off the darker emotions," she started, turning to Taylor, "is there a place we can sit down and talk properly?"

"Sure," Taylor said, a little off balance by the rapid fire back and forth from the two girls. "We can use the observation room. It's got a great view of the Earth."

"Sounds good to me," Liana cheered, grabbing onto Meagan's arm and pulling her along while Taylor led the way. Once they were in the room, she commented, "That really is a nice view."

"You don't often see Earth like this," Meagan agreed. "At least not in person. It really brings things into perspective."

A moment passed quietly before Liana spoke up, "So, what made you decide to become a magical girl, anyway?"

Taylor looked over at the girl and replied, "My Earth is a bit of a shit hole, and I want to be a hero." Shrugging, she added, "I figure a year of experience and extra abilities couldn't hurt."

"Sounds reasonable," Meagan replied. "With that outlook, I can see why you're suited to draw from the Will well."

"You said something about more abilities," Liana commented. "Does that mean you can already do things?"

Taylor blushed slightly and looked down in embarrassment. "It's nothing powerful, but I can control insects."

"Really?" Liana asked. "So can I! Want to see who can control them better?"

Before Taylor could say anything, Liana was glowing softly. "What are you doing?" she asked as the crickets and ants began fighting her control. She let a few do what they were attempting before clamping down on them again. She did not need her ants climbing out of their container.

"Wow," Liana said in lieu of answering. "This is a lot harder than it should be." She began growing a little brighter and started sweating slightly she fought Taylor for control. "This is supposed to be a low mana spell!" she complained. "It's like I'm trying to control a whole herd of deer or something, and it's just a bunch of ants and stuff!" With an indignant huff, she stopped glowing. "Fine, then, be that way."

"What just happened?" Taylor asked.

"I was trying to control some of the bugs you have up here, and it was a lot harder than it should have been," Liana explained. "I could still see… something, but it didn't make all that much sense."

"You should have focused on the spider more," Taylor opined. "She has much better eyesight."

"What? Hang on a moment, I want to try something," Liana said before glowing slightly again. Taylor noticed the slight pressure of resistance coming from the spider, but that was all.

"Weird," Liana muttered. "Is that how insect senses really work?" She shook her head and promptly stopped glowing. "You see through their senses too, right?" she asked. At Taylor's nod, Liana exclaimed, "How do you not get a headache?"

Taylor shrugged. "They told me I would have been in the hospital long enough to be put in the mental ward. Apparently, starting with a few insects is easier."

"And what's your range?" Liana demanded eagerly.

"I don't know," Taylor admitted. "This station isn't long enough for me to get out of range."

"Don't worry, Taylor," Meagan cut in. "It really isn't that important right now. We should be going over your possible wells and get you set up for an empowerment ceremony."

"Right," Liana agreed, shaking herself. "Sorry about that. I tend to go off on tangents sometimes. Hyperfocusing can happen sometimes. Comes with the Pit."

"What do the two of you recommend?" Taylor asked, ignoring the comment for now but making a mental note for later.

"Well," Meagan started, "it really depends on you and your situation. All three of your potential choices can be quite powerful, though Despair can be less so. Once things start getting better, it becomes harder to draw on it for power."

"I don't think that'll be a problem for a long time," Taylor mentioned. "Earth Bet isn't the best place to live, after all.

"Ah, but you're forgetting how long you're likely to live," Meagan countered. "Our magical girl bodies don't age, after all. And, if you were smart about it, you also signed up for Infinite Telomeres, so you're going to be around for a while unless something major happens."

"Were you a contestant, too?" Taylor asked, figuring that would be the only way this girl would know about that option, even if she did seem rather young.

"No," Meagan replied, "but I've seen enough shows to get the general idea. Now, as I was saying, Despair is very hard to hold onto forever, at least if you're doing your job right and don't go rogue, which leaves Obsession and Will."

"As a bonus," Liana cut in, "Obsession has an affinity with Despair, so you can still get most of the same spells as you could with that Pit. Of course, it doesn't really matter much. Only the really powerful spells need you to have a certain Pit."

"Or Well," Meagan added. "Light emotion magical girls have almost the same set up. One main well and two wells you have an affinity for."

"I'll be honest," Liana continued, "Even though there are a lot of good magical girls who draw on negative emotions, we're at least twice as likely to go rogue. I'm not sure what would have happened with me if Meagan wasn't there for me to fixate on. If you want to go Obsession, that's fine, but you need to make sure at least one of your obsessions can keep you grounded. If you don't have that, you'll probably go rogue sooner or later, and then we'd have to kill you."

Taylor shuddered at the girl's tone. Someone who looked as young as she did should _not_ sound that eager to kill somebody. "I don't think I have anything like that right now," Taylor admitted sadly.

"That's alright," Meagan said. "At least you know it, and are willing to admit it. So, I guess that leaves you with Will as a choice."

"And now we get to the interesting bit," Liana cheered. "Most of the time, a new magical girl is in a bit of a hurry, so they make a bunch of choices they otherwise wouldn't. You get to actually think about what you're doing, so you should be able to make much better choices."

"Now, the first question," Meagan began, "is what kind of role do you want to play on the battlefield?"

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked. "Doesn't everyone just fight?"

"Well, yes, to an extent," Liana explained. "Meagan, here, is a front line skirmisher. She gets close and personal while dodging in and out of attacks."

"And Liana is more of an Area Denial expert," Meagan continued. "She makes it hard for people to operate around her, either by cursing nearby items, using tremors to knock people down, causing distractions by controlling animals, things like that." Looking over Taylor, she asked, "So, what role would you want to have? Front line combatant, area control, scouting, general support, long range combatant? There's a lot of choices."

"It's also important to keep in mind what skills you'd like to have when you head back to your Earth," Liana added. "Half the problems people have is planning for the immediate battle while forgetting about preparing for a war."

"I don't really know," Taylor admitted. "I just want to be a hero and help make Brockton Bay a better place." She paused for a moment, thinking, "Though it sounds like staying out of direct combat would let me have the longest career and do the most good. Maybe a generalist with a long range combat focus?"

The two magical girls looked at one another before Meagan pulled a sheet out of a pocket. "Here's a list of things we can try to set up for you. There's a bunch of obscure rules and oddities to it, but we'll explain it while we go, and you can confirm it all later when you get empowered. You'll have plenty of time to come up with any specific questions on anything after we leave."

"We'll also give you a way to contact us with any questions," Liana added, "though we might not get back to you right away. Battles don't always have convenient schedules. Now, let's get planning!" With a slight cackle of glee, she bent over the paper, beckoning Taylor to look as well.

The three girls spent a good two hours discussing the different options before they had mostly exhausted Taylor's questions. Unfortunately, a good number of those questions didn't have answers currently, but Meagan and Liana promised to let Taylor know if they found answers for any of those questions. When the two magical girls made their way off of the station, Taylor was happy that she had possibly made two new friends and confident that she would not regret becoming a magical girl.

[hr][/hr]

Once Meagan and Liana were away from the Slut Life complex and fairly assured of their privacy, Meagan turned to Liana and asked, "Why did you stop me from telling her that she'll only be able to use magic when transformed?"

Liana grinned feraly. "We both know that's not true, Meagan," she stated. "It's just stupidly difficult to concentrate correctly without the mental boosts we get from the transformation."

"It's still true enough for something like nine hundred ninety-nine out of a thousand girls, though," Meagan protested.

"Sure," Liana said with a shrug. "But they wouldn't be able to deal with what Taylor does every day. You have no idea what it's like trying to actually make sense out of what bugs see. If she can handle that mess, casting spells as a normal girl should be easy." She grinned again and added, "Do you know what the number one thing is that makes people unable to do something supposedly impossible?"

Meagan sighed but gave in. "No, what is it?" she asked.

"Being told that the thing they're going to try to do is impossible," Liana concluded. "I want to see what nonsense Taylor's going to be able to pull off, especially given what happened when I tried to control her."

"You tried to what?!" Meagan exclaimed. "Damn it, you're lucky she didn't notice!"

"I didn't try to have her do anything," Liana protested. "I just wanted to see what she saw and stuff." She shuddered briefly. "I'm not about to do that again anytime soon. I'm pretty sure if I did, my brains would end up leaking out of my ears." To herself, she mused, "I never thought someone with an eldritch abomination in their head could seem so nice..."

"What?!"


	9. Recruitment 1:8

Recruitment 1.8

[hr][/hr]

Cindy made her way back to the station, box in hand and a lot on her mind. Waving at one of the guards, she was surprised when he waved her over. "What's up?" she asked as she approached.

"Just thought you'd like to know," the man began. "We had a pair of magical girls show up. They were up there for a few hours and then left."

Cindy groaned. "Wonderful," she muttered. "I was hoping to be here when they showed up. You guys were observing, right?"

"Of course we were," the guard insisted, sounding offended.

"Right, of course you were," Cindy agreed, massaging her forehead. "Sorry about that. This whole situation has been getting to me. Anything happen that I should be worried about?"

The guard shrugged. "Probably not. Girl seems to have her head on right," he commented. "And had a lot of interesting ideas she wants to try." With a satisfied smirk, he added, "Ideas we'd like to see tested. Me and the boys got together a little care package for her, if you get my meaning. Hang on a moment, and I'll have one of the guys bring it out." Not waiting for a response, he thumbed his radio. "Johnson, Miss Matos is here. Can you bring out the package."

"You got it," Johnson replied through the radio.

"While we wait," the guard continued, "we have a message we'd like you to give to Miss Hebert."

"Go on," Cindy said.

"If she has any questions, or makes a decision and would like some experience first, let us know and one of us will make it happen," the guard replied.

"Do I want to know what you're talking about?" Cindy asked suspiciously.

"Oh, it's nothing bad," the guard denied. "She just had a fascinating idea, and more familiarity with the real thing can only help her chances of success."

Cindy blinked. "I still have no idea what you're talking about," she admitted. "But I'll pass along the message. If she gets upset over your offer, I'll let you deal with the bees."

The guard chuckled. "I'm not particularly worried," he replied. "And here comes Johnson with the package."

Another guard approached, carrying a cardboard box under one arm. "Ma'am," he said politely. "Here you go, the last six months of about eight magazine subscriptions or so."

"Damn it Johnson," the first guard complained. "You ruined the joke. I had her thinking I was talking about sex or something."

"I did," Cindy added, "until you weren't worried about the bees." She took the box and asked, "So, what kind of magazines do you think could help Taylor with whatever ideas those magical girls put into her head?"

The guard grinned. "Now, why would I want to ruin the surprise? It'll be more amusing to watch both of your reactions, after all."

"Fine," Cindy grumbled, turning back toward the gate. "What is it with people wanting to surprise me today?" she asked rhetorically as she walked off.

[hr][/hr]

Taylor was looking over the sheet the magical girls had left behind when she felt something… odd. It felt like a mass of insects, yet at the same time didn't. She could tell they were there, but couldn't get any real sensation out of them. On the other hand, she could also tell they were coming closer, so that meant… "Hello, Cindy," she called.

"Hello, Taylor," Cindy replied as she walked into the room. "Have a good meeting with the magical girls?"

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, they were really helpful," she agreed. "I'm going to tap into the Well of Will when I get empowered, and they helped me sort through what sort of things I can look forward to." She paused for a moment and added, "Apparently, knowing it's coming helps a lot, since I can avoid making any really dumb choices in the heat of the moment."

"That's good," Cindy agreed. "Now, do you have any idea why the guards back on the surface would be giving you presents?" she asked, holding forward one of the boxes.

"There's guards?" Taylor asked. "Aren't we in outer space right now?"

"Yes, but you don't think we'd let just anyone come up here, do you?" Cindy asked in return. "The guards are there to keep people from sneaking up here without us knowing about it, as well as keeping an eye on you."

Taylor flushed. "So they're watching me every time I..."

"Yes, you're being watched at all times," Cindy admitted. "Though there are privacy protocols involved, since you aren't on the show yet. They don't see you naked or anything like that."

"That's good," Taylor muttered. "Now, what's this?" she asked, giving the box a little shake.

"No idea," Cindy replied with a shrug. "Apparently, they wanted it to be a surprise for me, too. Apparently it should help you with something about becoming a magical girl, though."

"Huh." Taylor pulled the box open and looked inside. "Modern Mercenary?" she read, before reaching in and pulling out a stack of magazines. "Locked and Loaded, Moore's Dakka, Multiveral Rifleman," she listed as she sorted through the titles. "Comparative Marksmen, Scientific Gunsmith, Guns and Tulips, and Scope. That's a lot of gun magazines."

Cindy stared at the magazines and burst out, "What the hell did you talk to those girls about?!"

Taylor hesitated for a moment. "Well, you see," she began, "some magical girls can use guns they make out of magic."

"That's reasonably well known," Cindy agreed. "Most of them look fairly cartoonish or like they're antiques. That still doesn't explain why you need these magazines."

"Well," Taylor continued, "I wanted to know what would happen if you made a gun that was exactly like a real one. Then Meagan and Liana didn't know, so..." Taylor trailed off. "I guess I want to see if it could fire real bullets as well."

"Thats… Huh," Cindy began before giving the idea some thought. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard of something like that being tried before. It either works, but the girls who figured it out kept quiet about it, or it doesn't work."

"Or no one else thought about it before," Taylor added. "As far as I can tell, most magical girls aren't really given much time to make decisions, so I'm not sure how many would be able to come up with a fully functional gun on the fly. And, once you have a working gun, why would you try something different?"

"So, the magazines are for research?" Cindy asked.

"Pretty much," Taylor agreed. "I was going to ask you for a way to look guns up, but this'll be a good start."

"Once you've narrowed down what you're looking for, let me know," Cindy added. "Some of the guards have volunteered to help you out, which probably means they've got a bunch of guns for you to look through and try out."

Taylor nodded her approval. "That'd be useful. I'm going to need something that wouldn't be out of place on Earth Bet, so that I can get more bullets or whatever once I go back home."

"And on that note," Cindy said, handing out the other box. "I talked to my boss. He gave me this to give you."

"I was wondering what is in it," Taylor mentioned, taking the box. "It feels like a bunch of bugs, but not," she explained. Opening the box, she revealed a mound of silk. Stuck to the inside cover of the box was a note. "Miss Hebert, as an apology for the inconvenience of your situation, and as a welcome gift to someone I hope will soon be a valued employee, I procured an egg sack of Darwin Bark spider eggs. They have the strongest known silk of any terrestrial spider and should be of use in your future endeavors. Remember, they are cannibalistic and solitary spiders, so you will need to take care to separate them if they are not under your control." Turning to Cindy, Taylor said, "I'm going to need more bugs."

Cindy nodded, her eyes wide. "Yeah. I'll see what I can do. Flies shouldn't be too hard to get and grow."

"For now, I'm going to go put this someplace safe," Taylor added, gesturing with the box. "Then you can tell me what you found out." She started to make her way back to her room with Cindy following.

[hr][/hr]

"Now that that's settled," Taylor began, looking at the corner she'd placed the spider eggs in, "what did you find out?"

Cindy cleared her throat and said, "Quite a bit, actually. Let me start with the owner situation, since that'll be faster."

"Sure," Taylor agreed. "What was up with the amazons and the supervillain?"

"It's basically the bean counters' fault," Cindy began. "Apparently, the amazons and all of the supervillains wanted to be paid more than they usually are, and Accounting decided it should come out of your payment instead of allocating more funds."

"They can do that?" Taylor asked.

"If they make the change before you start filling out the paperwork, yes," Cindy replied. "I looked, and both groups managed to get enough information to make that decision the first night you were here. That said, I'm not sure why they weren't replaced by different options."

"Well, I wasn't likely to pick either of them, anyway, so I guess it's no great loss," Taylor decided. "Now, what's up with the mad scientists?"

"Yeah..." Cindy began, rubbing the back of her neck. "That's going to take some explanation." Pointing at a section of the screen, showing the contract form once again, she asked, "You've noticed how there's too many hours in a week, right?"

"I was wondering about that," Taylor admitted. "What's up with that?"

"Well, we usually send our contestants to another planet. In your case, it looks like they're going with Yiobos, Jeyter, or Babnockorty. All three have thirty-two hour days." She noticed Taylor's disbelieving look. "Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly. "You get used to it surprisingly quickly, and you already decided you wanted to take the sleep mod, so that'll help."

"I'll take your word for it," Taylor replied. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Almost everything," Cindy answered. "Due to certain issues with your abilities, there's a concern that you can't leave the planet safely," she explained.

"Why not?" Taylor asked. "If it was an issue with the Simurgh, I'd already be dead, right?"

"The Simurgh?" Cindy asked. "What do mythological birds have to do with anything?"

"The Simurgh is one of the Endbringers destroying my world," Taylor explained. "She sits in orbit until she attacks. Behemoth and Leviathan just kill you, but the Simurgh? She breaks you, plants suggestions in your head or something. It can be right away or years later, but eventually, her victims go crazy and try to kill everyone or blow something up."

"That's horrible!" Cindy exclaimed. She paused for a moment to regain her composure before continuing, "But, no, it has nothing to do with her. The scientists are worried your powers might not work if you get too far away."

Taylor blinked. "Why would distance make a difference if being in a parallel universe didn't?"

"And this is where the explanation gets a bit weird. You're going to have to bear with me a bit," Cindy said. "Basically, your powers, and that extra lobe in your brain, are part of a biological supercomputer. It seems able to connect through the fifth and somewhat the sixth dimension, so you can be on Earth Bet while the supercomputer is on a different Earth entirely. The problem is that we don't know how far the connection can stretch in the third dimension, especially not while we're also stretching it through the seventh as well."

"I'm sorry, what?" Taylor asked. "I don't want to sound stupid here, but, I'm a high school sophomore."

"Right, sorry," Cindy replied. "I keep forgetting that not everyone is used to working with eight dimensions. Slut Life and our sister companies routinely deal with nine, but I'm not really comfortable dealing with different laws of physics." Shaking her head, she started over. "Alright, you should be familiar with the first four dimensions."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "Length, width, depth, and time, right?"

"Yes," Cindy agreed. "The fifth dimension is basically a plane of worlds with the same starting point but different histories. The six dimension just adds more possibilities to the mix.."

"Like Earth Aleph!" Taylor explained.

Cindy checked a few notes on her laptop before replying, "That Earth your Professor Haywire reached through the fifth dimension? Yes, exactly. Of course, if you did the same thing through the sixth dimension, there's a very good chance you wouldn't find an Earth there. The seventh includes a set of infinite universes with different starting conditions. To use an analogy, if a story book was a universe in the fourth dimension, general fanfiction about it would be in the fifth dimension while Alternate Universe fics would be in the sixth. The seventh dimension would be a library. The best way I can describe the eighth dimension is as a collection of libraries, but I think the analogy is starting to fall apart..."

"Just a bit," Taylor agreed, "though I think I got the gist of it. At least enough to get a headache trying to keep it all straight."

"I'll be honest," Cindy confided, "keeping the terminology straight still gives me headaches sometimes." Stretching a little, she continued, "The part that's important to take away is that we're currently on an Earth, even if it's not remotely similar to your Earth, and we've kept a small pinhole open for your powers to connect to you through. Or your connection to the supercomputer has done so for us. I'm still not completely clear on that bit."

"I guess that makes sense."

"The problem is," the redhead continued, "that we want to take you to a planet light years away from earth, and again in a different section of the multiverse, and we're not sure everything will still work when we get you there."

"That would be a problem," Taylor agreed, having trouble processing everything.

"Luckily, one of the scientists has agreed to help get the source of your powers there," Cindy added. "And I just realized that we need to get an actual name for the things, or else talking about them will always be a pain. I'll add it to the list for the scientists to figure out."

"So, if you have a way to move it, what's the problem?" Taylor asked.

"We don't know if it has an equivalent to DRM," Cindy replied. "It'd be bad if we got you out there and then found out the computer refused to function without being around earth."

"That would be bad," Taylor opined.

"Especially with it plugged into your brain," Cindy agreed. "Now, the scientists think they have a way around the issue, but they'd need your permission to try it, hence the bribe."

Taylor thought for a moment. "How dangerous do you think it'd be?"

"Not terribly dangerous," Cindy began, "and they'd pull back at the first sign of any issues." She paused for a moment before adding, "This is also for the forty credit payoff. They'd pay you the twenty credits just for letting them examine you and your connection more."

Taylor thought on it a bit more before asking, "Be honest with me, is there any reason you can think of to not take the offer?"

"There's always some risk," Cindy admitted, "but they'll do what they can to mitigate it. And some of the testing may be somewhat uncomfortable, but I don't know what they have planned, so I can't give you any advice there."

"And reasons I should do it?"

Cindy grinned and replied, "You mean besides not wanting to fill out all of the paperwork again to fit with being on Earth? We'd basically have to scrap two thirds of it at this point." Shaking her head ruefully, she continued, "More seriously, the extra forty credits is a rather large advantage for you. It's significantly better than any of the other owners will offer, and can help negate the need for some of the more annoying punishments. Besides, they're nerds. If you keep them occupied enough with actual science and research, they won't have time to do anything too weird to you."

"All right," Taylor decided. "I'm convinced. Add them to the list."

"The potential list?" Cindy asked to clarify.

"Might as well make it the final list," Taylor replied after some thought. "I don't think there's going to be that many more options I'm going to want to jump at hard enough to knock them off."

"True enough," Cindy agreed. Making a notation on the screen, she added, "All set. Now, shall we continue?"

"We might as well," Taylor agreed. "What's up next?"

"Well, we've reached the thirty-five credit owners, so they're going to be getting more demanding, in one way or another from here on out," Cindy said. "First up we have an incubus or succubus. They're literal sex demons and are very much capable of making you cum repeatedly and having you beg for more."

Taylor flushed in embarrassment. "How do they do that? By controlling your mind or something?"

"No," Cindy said, with a fond smile. "They're just that good. One of my owners was an incubus named Euclid. I still meet up with him occasionally for tea and nookie."

Taylor blinked. "Do you mean tea and cookies?"

"No, no I don't," Cindy said smugly. "Anyway, they left a message for you, if you want to see it."

"They can't use videos to hypnotize you, right?" Taylor asked.

"Well," Cindy hedged, "they can, but we screen for that. The message should be safe. Want to play it? If nothing else, it should be interesting."

Taylor sighed. "Sure, go ahead." Cindy pushed play on the screen.

"Greetings, Miss Hebert.," a stately and mature looking woman said. A pair of wings poked over her shoulders and she was wearing a fairly conservative button up shirt. "I am Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections. As I am sure you are aware, I am a succubus. What you may not be aware of is that we have a number of clans, and we rotate which clan will supply a candidate for a contestant to choose from. Our clan much prefers our members and affiliates to be happy long term than to simply focus on the greatest short term gain. As such, it is my duty to choose which of our youngsters should be given an opportunity to participate with Slut Life in the hopes of finding a life mate among you or your roommates, neighbors, or other owners. I should warn you now, we are not a monogamous species, so any succubus I sent would not be having sex with you exclusively, even if you were to become life mates."

She paused for a moment and continued. "The purpose of a life mate is to provide emotional support and companionship. Yes, there is also the production of food to consider, as well as simple emotional and erotic closeness, but that mostly takes a back seat." She looked to the side for a moment and photograph popped up in the corner of the screen showing a somewhat embarrassed girl with greenish hair, elvish ears, and green wings sprouting from her back. "This is one of our daughters, She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday. I've read up on your situation, and I think the two of you would be good for each other. While she's definitely more… platonically affectionate than most of our kind, she is still a succubus, so, if you choose to accept her, she will feed upon you, a process I guarantee you will enjoy, even if she were to use the less… direct methods of feeding. With all of that said, I really do think the two of you would help each other immensely, so please, do consider accepting her." The video zoomed in on the image of the younger succubus before pausing.

"Well, that's a thing," Cindy muttered. "Euclid definitely isn't from that clan. His clan's all about the feeding, with friendship being a secondary concern." At Taylor's look, she elaborated, "Willing friends are less effort to bed than random strangers."

"That… makes sense," Taylor admitted uneasily.

"So, what do you think?" Cindy asked. "Want to give She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday a shot?"

"I'm a bit curious why she didn't deliver the pitch herself," Taylor admitted.

"I can think of two possible reasons off the top of my head," Cindy suggested. "Either she's shy or the matron is the one who does all of those messages."

"I guess that makes sense. Sure, add her to the maybe list," Taylor decided. If nothing else, she thought with a blush, it could be fun, and it sounded like this one would also want to be friends more than anything else.


	10. Recruitment 1:9

Recruitment 1.9

[hr][/hr]

Once Taylor had gotten over her embarrassment, she looked back to Cindy. "So… what's next?" she asked awkwardly.

Cindy looked over the form. "Next up is an angel."

"That sounds promising," Taylor noted. "Why is she worth so much?"

"We've got a few of them hanging around," Cindy began, "and they've all fallen from Heaven for one reason or another. I don't think I've heard of one that wasn't a bossy conceited bitch."

"I think I'll pass," Taylor decided. "Who's next?"

"The next group are a bunch of wizards specializing in shapeshifting magic," Cindy read. "They're pretty much interchangeable, and most of them are horny. Good if you like a lot of variety, bad if you want to stick with primarily humanoids. Lots of fun, though."

Taylor blinked. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"I think I only saw mine in his normal shape once or twice," Cindy explained. "They like to play around with different forms, so one week you'll have be having sex with a short goblin, and the next time it'll be a horse, and the time after that could be an elephant. It's a bit like being at the zoo, but at least the animal fucking you is actually human, right?"

"Not interested," Taylor stated. "I definitely want to have some idea what I'm getting myself into."

"That's understandable," Cindy replied with a nod. "Alright, I'll add the shapeshifter to the no pile, then."

"Thanks," Taylor said. "I mean, I guess I can see why the variety might be appealing, but I don't think I'd enjoy it."

"It's definitely not for everyone," Cindy agreed. "Next up we have a psychic, a powerful telepath who'll-"

"No," Taylor said firmly."

Cindy pouted. "You didn't even let me finish."

"Don't care," Taylor insisted. "The answer is still going to be no."

"Look, they left you _two_ messages," Cindy noted. "I've never seen that before. Can you at least listen to them before deciding?"

"I'd rather not," Taylor replied. "I'm not letting anyone poke around my brain."

Cindy sighed. "Alright, I can't force you, but it would be interesting to see what the messages are about." Looking at the next entry, she continued, "Next up is Tyrone. There's only one of him, but so few people want his services that he's usually available."

Taylor looked over the picture of a muscular black man and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's worth thirty-five credits," Taylor said. "Something must be wrong with him if he's worth that much and still doesn't have people signing up to be with a hunk like him."

"Ah, that," Cindy replied. "He's looking for someone who wants to be his prison bitch."

"I'm sorry, he's looking for what?" Taylor asked incredulously.

"He wants somebody to be his prison bitch," Cindy repeated. "And it looks like he's left a text message for you, if you want to take a look."

"Call me morbidly curious," Taylor said, "what does the message say?"

As she clicked on the link, Cindy whistled lowly before replying, "As far as I can tell, he's been writing a treatise on why you should want to be a prison bitch."

"Why is it loading a text editor?" Taylor asked.

"He adds a bit to it each time he gets rejected," Cindy explained. "Last time I saw it, it was around five pages long, but that was when I was going through it myself."

"It's still loading," Taylor noted. "Should it still be loading?"

"It's definitely longer than five pages now," Cindy added. They sat for another few seconds while the document finished loading. "It looks like he's up to a full thirty pages," she noted, scrolling to the bottom of the document.

"Without counting the three pages of cited sources," Taylor added in shock. "And are those testimonials?"

"He's been getting much more thorough," Cindy said in something approaching awe. "I'm kind of impressed." She scrolled back to the top of the document, so that they could look at the introduction.

"Did he write it in the third person?" Taylor asked incredulously. "Thirty pages, single spaced, and he writes it in the third person? What the hell?"

"I met him once," Cindy confided. "He always talks in the third person. Maybe he used a dictation program?"

"If he did, it's a lot better than anything I've heard of back home," Taylor said. "Either that, or he spent a lot of time fixing all the mistakes they make."

"Our dictation programs are pretty good," Cindy noted, "but they still mess up occasionally. Anyway, want to read the whole thing or just move on?"

"Can you save me a copy of this?" Taylor asked. "He put so much work into it that it seems like a shame to let it go to waste."

"Sure, I can do that," Cindy agreed. "I'll make sure you get a copy."

"Thanks," Taylor said. "So, while he might have some good points, I'm not going to take the time to read that to find them at the moment. We might as well move on."

"Got it, next up is the dragon," Cindy said. "Now, this one has a video attached, and I want to see if I got the favor I asked for, so I'm going to play it, alright?" She hit play before Taylor could protest.

The screen filled with the image of a large horned head. Small wisps of smoke escaped the red dragon's nostrils lazily as he breathed. Cindy smirked triumphantly as the dragon began to speak. "Hello, Miss Taylor Hebert. I am Smaug Ironwing. If you choose to have a dragon for one of your owners, I will be that owner. This is for two main reasons. First, when your abilities were explained, most of the other dragons decided to be bitchy little wimps and hightailed it out of the cavern. I don't get what they're so worried about. So you control insects. So what? We dragons are large and have thick hides. We breathe fire. Insects should prove no obstacle for one of our ilk." He shook his head sadly. "I fear for our future generations."

Cindy snorted in amusement. "Crotchety old goat," she said fondly.

"Secondly, and more importantly," Smaug continued, "Cindy asked me to consider taking you under my wing." He paused for a moment. "Now, who am I to reject a request from one of my favorite humans? Why, she might just stop coming to visit if I did that. Not to mention, it has been a few years since I've taken part in the show. Now, Miss Taylor, the thing to keep in mind is that dragons, no matter how intelligent, are in part ruled by our emotions, and Slut Life does do a good job of finding horny dragons. The difference between dragons is how well we can control our emotions or focus on different emotions when needed. If you choose me as one of your owners, you will be fucked."

The dragon paused for a moment, giving Taylor the time to glare at Cindy. "Oh, don't give me that look," Cindy protested. "Smaug isn't done, yet."

"However," Smaug continued, "unlike some, I understand the concept of foreplay and how a genuine emotional connection can enhance the experience. Not everything is about sex, though that is definitely part of it. Ask Cindy. I can be quite the attentive lover or an overpowering force of nature depending on what each of us want. That said, if you do choose me, I highly suggest you listen to what options Cindy suggests. She knows what ones you should take and which you should avoid." The dragon grinned lasciviously and licked his snout with a tongue that had to be over a foot long. "Not heeding her advice would be a grave mistake. That said, regardless of your choice, I wish you well on your future endeavors."

Cindy gave Taylor a hopeful look, "So, what do you think?"

"He looks very… large," Taylor commented uncertainty.

"He is," Cindy agreed, "in more ways than one, but he really is a sweetheart. I know I'm biased, but I think he's a good choice. I wasn't sure he'd bother challenging the others for the right to be a candidate, but he did. I'll definitely be doing something nice for him later."

"They fight over who gets a chance to fuck us?" Taylor asked, aghast.

"Well, yeah," Cindy said nonchalantly. "It's a bit old fashioned, but most of them really get turned on by the concept of holding a maiden hostage or some such." She shrugged. "Smaug doesn't really care about the game anymore, but he's still willing to play when necessary. Or for the right reward."

"Leaving that aside, what did he mean about advice?" Taylor asked.

Cindy chuckled and replied, "You saw me having sex with Smaug, and I told you about the flexible holes mod. Between that and at least a minor masochism streak, the experience is quite enjoyable, though I'd recommend not wearing a corset if you can help it." Looking at Taylor hopefully, she asked, "So, are you interested? I guarantee it's nothing like being at the zoo or dealing with a shapeshifter."

"Fine," Taylor sighed. "I'm not saying yes yet, but I'll keep him in mind."

"Great," Cindy chirped, giving Taylor a quick hug. "I'll mark him down as a maybe. I'm sure you two would have fun together. And I don't just mean having sex. He likes his roleplay and just having someone to fly around with as well."

Taylor nodded in consideration. "That doesn't sound so bad. I'll keep it in mind. What's left? We're almost done, right?" Taylor asked.

Scrolling down the screen before scrolling back up, Cindy answered, "There's only about five left, and, frankly, I don't think you're going to be interested in most of them."

Taylor nodded. "In that case, can I just start with a brief rundown? I can always ask for more details, right?"

"That'll work," Cindy agreed. "Now, the three I can't see you being at all interested are a weekly gang rape, and they will make you hate it, a casting couch where four randomly chosen fans will be given nearly free reign with you for the duration, which really is more fun than it sounds, and an option for public use, where we'd strip you down and lock you into a pillory in the middle of town for a few hours, with anyone who wants to being able to use you."

Taylor turned a rather unhealthy green at the thought. "Who would pick those?" she demanded. "They're awful!"

"That is why they're worth so much," Cindy pointed out. "And, to be fair, if it weren't for your bribe from the scientists, the pillory option has the highest credit value out of any owner." She shrugged and added, "Besides, I enjoyed my time with the casting call. Lots of variety without going outside of the intelligent races."

"I'm not sure that makes either of those two ideas any better," Taylor denied. "What about the last two options?"

"First up is a witch hunter," Cindy began. "They're a bit crazy and tend to think everyone is a witch. Regardless of which one you get, she'll probably keep hounding you until you confess, and then she'll keep punishing you for it. Considering your insect trick and that you'll soon be a magical girl, she'll have plenty of ammunition for an inquisition."

Taylor sat silently for a moment before asking, "Have you noticed how most of these people seem to be asking me to cover them in bugs?"

"At least Miss Platt would enjoy it," Cindy replied, "but I see your point. I think I'll need to talk to some people about finding some alternative owner categories for those with powers they can't turn off." Shaking her head, she continued, "and finally, we have a selection of cults who would use you in their rituals to worship their gods. Basically… do you know Lovecraft?"

"He wrote Gothic horror, right?" Taylor asked.

"Pretty much. His big thing was the unknowable evil and creatures as far above us as we are above ants," Cindy explained. "Basically, if you pick the cult, you're going to get used by an Old One." She winced before adding, "There's a warning about trying to not lose your mind."

"That sounds worse than dealing with a telepath," Taylor opined. "I'm definitely not getting involved with that. That's the last option, right?"

"That's it," Cindy agreed. Now all that's left is to choose which ones you want to have as owners, if you want any of them to also be roommates, and if you want to spend any extra time with them on their days. That has an extra bonus, by the way."

"Who all do I have on my maybe list, anyway?" Taylor asked.

"Well, to start off," Cindy began, "we have you definitely choosing the scientists. Other than that, you narrowed it down to the Cutie, the Futanari, the Slime Girl, Siblings, the Succubus, and the Dragon as possible choices." Shaking her head, she added, "If you wanted to get the maximum number of owners we can give you, you've narrowed the list down to that exact number."

"How many owners do I need, again?" Taylor asked, looking over the short list.

"Strictly speaking?" Cindy began. "Only one, but there's advantages to having more."

"Such as?"

"Well, other than the extra credits they provide, there's a few benefits," Cindy explained. "They tend to lend a bit of variety to your life, which makes things less stagnant and tends to improve ratings. If you choose to have some of your owners as roommates-"

"Why would I want that?" Taylor interrupted. "Wouldn't that just have them controlling things twenty-four seven?"

"I was getting to that," Cindy griped. "And it's thirty-two seven. The days are longer there, remember?"

"Sorry," Taylor said sheepishly. "You were saying?"

"Right, where was I." Cindy rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. "Ah, right. No, your owners can only order you around during their turns with you. Of course, if you take any punishments with a controller, they would still be able to use those remotes. It can be helpful to have someone around to allow you to climax, pee, or sleep, for example. There are other punishments with remotes, of course."

"I can see how that'd be helpful," Taylor admitted.

"Especially since your AI might not have access to any of those remotes. You can't get one for the catheter, after all," Cindy added. "They're also good for companionship, which you could probably use. Besides, if they piss you off and you don't have a shock collar or something, you could always just cover them in bees or something. And on that note, I highly recommend accepting Velma Platt as one of your owners and have her be one of your roommates."

"She's the one who likes bugs, right?" Taylor asked. When Cindy nodded, she added, "You said having her as an owner wouldn't get me any credits, so why would I want to subject myself to that?"

"I see where you're coming from," Cindy replied, "but you can get five credits by having her in charge for an extra four hours a week, she seems very friendly, and, here's the important one, she's likely to take you around looking for insects without expecting you to do anything for the privilege."

"That's a fair point," Taylor admitted, thinking about it. "The scientists might help me get interesting insects as well, but they're probably going to be focusing on my power and how it works, rather than what I can do with it. Fine, add her to the definite list as a roommate."

"And the others?" Cindy asked.

"Let's hold off for now," Taylor decided. "I don't think I want any more owners than I have to have, but they might be better than the alternatives."

"Sure, we can do that," Cindy conceded. "We can always look at the various sections again up until we submit the paperwork."

"I'm definitely going to want to go over everything again when we're done," Taylor agreed. "This is too important to not think on properly."

"That's definitely true," Cindy agreed. "Anyway, do you want me to let the scientists know you're definitely signing up as a guinea pig? It'll let them start some of the prep work so we won't have to wait as long after you finish filling everything out?"

Taylor looked over to Cindy and asked, "Is there any particular advantage to that?"

"Not really," Cindy admitted. "Once everything's been finalized, you'll probably still have at least a week or two before the show starts. Maybe even a full month if things take long enough. They'll need to prepare your new body, or more precisely alter your current body to order. Then they'll need to make you a magical girl and get all of that taken care off. While that's going on, they'll need to put together your apartment and move everything in, contact your owners and roommates and have them all available in the same general area. At some point, they'll need to actually transport you to the planet you'll be on for the year and figure out how to move the supercomputer attached to your brain at the same time. And that's not even including any advertising they'll want to do. Photo shoots, interviews, things like that."

Taylor boggled. "That's a lot of prep work."

"It really is," Cindy agreed. "Luckily, the most stressful part of my job will be done once we finish with the contract, though I'll still be around to work as a liaison for you and to help you if you have any other questions crop up."

"That's good to know," Taylor said with a sigh of relief. "Are you going to be around during my entire stint, or only until the show starts?"

Cindy considered for a moment, before replying, "Typically, once you've started the main filming, you're on your own. However, yours is not the typical case. We're actively working at recruiting you, after all, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm still around for at least the first month or so with periodic stops in to see how you're doing after that."

"Makes sense," Taylor agreed. "You wouldn't want me forming a bad opinion of the company halfway through training."

"No," Cindy said dryly. "That wouldn't be ideal." She paused for a moment before asking, "So, did you want me to tell the scientists they're in?"

Taylor sighed. "You might as well." A moment later she added, "Can you let Velma know as well? Maybe we can do a penpal thing or something before we actually have to live and work together."

"Sure, I can do that," Cindy said, quickly pulling up a new window and typing out a few messages. "And sent."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, can we please watch what the psychic had to say?" Cindy pleaded. "I'm curious, and I won't have access to the messages after the contract is finalized. I've never seen one contestant include two separate messages before."

"Fine," Taylor relented. "I guess we can watch the messages. It's not going to change my mind, though."

"I don't expect it to," Cindy replied consolingly. "I really am just that curious." With that said, she clicked on the first message.

"Hello Miss Hebert," the visibly nervous girl on the screen said. "My name is Natalie, and I've been 'volunteered' to represent the Psychics if you choose to have one as an owner. Standard policy in this case allows me to send a message arguing my position." She paused here and took a couple of deep breaths. "I'd like to ask that you _not_ choose to have a Psychic for an owner on potential health and safety grounds. We just don't currently know what kind of interactions would occur between telepaths and the link you share with insects around you, and I don't believe that the show is the place to find out."

"She makes a good point," Cindy muttered.

"I'd rather not Master anyone," Taylor agreed. "It never ends well back home."

"As such," Natalie continued after another deep breath. "I encourage you to not have a Psychic for an owner. Instead, I feel it would be better if you worked with a test group in more limited and controlled conditions to determine what kind of problems, if any, may occur when you interact with telepaths. Beyond that, on a more personal level, I'm...unsettled around insects, and am not sure I could safely interact with you even without other potential complications. Thank you for your time."

Taylor winced. "I'm not really that much of a fan of insects, either," she noted to Cindy. "But, well, they're my power and the spiders will be useful and the crickets are fun, you know?"

"I suppose having your own pocket orchestra could be amusing," Cindy commented, referencing the crickets she could hear from down the hallway.

"It is rather fun," Taylor admitted. "I think I've gotten Itsy Bitsy Spider down."

"You'll have to show me later," Cindy decided. "There's still another message to watch." Clicking on the second link, she started the video.

"Miss Hebert," an older woman said. "I'm Mistress Fiorenza, the current manager and primary trainer of Psychics that participate on the show. As a matter of protocol I've reviewed Natalie's message, and find that her arguments are valid. I originally volunteered her as a matter of punishment, but I find that the potential hazards of interactions between the insects themselves, the supercomputer linking them to you, and telepathic abilities cannot be ignored. To that end, regardless of whether or not you choose to have Natalie as an owner I will be arranging to have a controlled meeting with you. I cannot trust any of the younger girls to be able to protect themselves in case something goes wrong."

"At least she's taking things seriously," Cindy commented.

"And she isn't going to risk one of her students first," Taylor added. "It's nice to see someone actually care that much." Cindy winced in sympathy at the sentiment.

After a moment where she'd checked the screen next to her, the woman continued. "Depending on how the initial meeting goes I may need to insist that you be based on one of the Psychic-free planets. This could have significant consequences to your scheduling options, so I will be departing to head to your current location shortly. The executives have just cleared my travel plans, in fact. Beyond that, provided things go well with the initial check, I'd appreciate it if you'd allow Natalie to be one of your owners. Beyond the punishment I originally intended I honestly feel that with your help she may be able to get over her mild phobia. Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you soon."

"Huh." Cindy clicked to another window on her computer and began poking around. "I don't remember seeing anything about that." She scrolled through her emails for a few moments before noticing one of the first ones. "Huh, it's only about half an hour old. No wonder I didn't see it yet. Let's see…" She opened the email and skimmed the contents. "It looks like she should be here sometime tomorrow."

"At least I won't have too long to worry about it," Taylor noted optimistically.

"That's definitely a plus," Cindy agreed. "Now, you said something about singing crickets?


	11. Recruitment 1:10

Recruitment 1.10

[hr][/hr]

Cindy looked Taylor over before asking, "Ready to get into the punishments? Fair warning, some of them are pretty out there and disturbing."

"I guess," Taylor replied with a shrug. "It's not like I have much of a choice long term, right?"

"Unfortunately," Cindy agreed. "Punishments are an important way to pay for what you want to get out of the contract, and you're going to need quite a few of them if you don't want to have any more owners."

"If you say so," Taylor grudgingly agreed. "What can I choose from?"

"The first option is the Meet and Greet," Cindy began. "Twice a year, you'll go on tour for a week and meet your fans. It's great for ratings and public relations, which is always good. Of course, it's not really much of a punishment, especially as it also keeps you from your owners for those weeks, or at least it keeps you from being ordered around by them without additional punishments being involved, so it doesn't give you any credits."

Taylor looked at the option suspiciously. "That sounds reasonable," she allowed. "A little too reasonable. What's the catch?"

"It does have a sub-option," Cindy admitted. "If you take it, there'll be a raffle you'll be required to service the lucky fan who wins. It is a random drawing, so you can't tell for sure what you'll be dealing with, but it's not too bad. Usually the most you'll have to do is give the winner a blowjob or something simple like that."

"That doesn't sound simple at all!" Taylor protested.

"The tours typically happen about half way through the show and near the very end," Cindy added, "so you'd have plenty of time to learn how before you'd be expected to actually do anything."

"It still doesn't sound like a good idea," Taylor continued with a huff.

"It's actually one of the lightest punishments you can get," Cindy countered. "Over the course your entire show, you'll only need to service the two fans who win the raffle, and, for that, you'll get five credits. It's basically a steal, really."

"If you say so," Taylor agreed dubiously.

"Eh, you'll see once we get into some of the other punishments," Cindy said. "I don't know who decided the pay scale on anything, but I can't make sense of why any one thing costs more, less, or the same as any other thing. Most of the punishments are daily, or at least weekly, events."

"I'll keep that in mind," Taylor replied dryly. "What's next?"

"Next up is a daily enema, for one credit," Cindy said.

Taylor blinked. "Isn't that when they fill your butt with water?" she asked incredulously.

"Basically," Cindy agreed, "though there are options for using semen instead, or a banana smoothie type mix, or to make you hold it for three hours, instead of being done in ten minutes or so." Checking a few of the options quickly, she added, "The most you can get for doing this is seven credits, and, if I'm reading this right, would involve back to back enemas and would take over four hours to complete."

"Ick," Taylor opined with a disgusted grimace. "I think I'll pass on all of that. I definitely see what you mean about the pricing not making any sense."

"They really don't," Cindy agreed. "Also, I should point out that, since you're taking Optimized Digestion D, any enemas you do would be purely a matter of discomfort, as you won't have any feces to deal with."

"Still not interested," Taylor said firmly.

"That's definitely your prerogative. I take it I might as well skip the diapers?" Cindy asked. "I'd ask about the diuretics and laxatives, but those won't actually work on you, so you can't actually choose them without forgoing the optimized digestion packages."

"Yes, definitely skip those."

"Alright," Cindy continued, "Next up we have a glory hole, where you would be presented with a cock through a hole in your wall every morning and would be required to service it. This would get you two credits. For an extra credit, you can be required to swallow."

"That doesn't sound very fun," Taylor noted.

"It can be," Cindy refuted with a grin, "Especially if you pair it with Cum Connoisseur or Cum Addiction. At that point, it's basically a special treat." She sighed in remembrance, adding "Good times, good times."

"I'm still not interested," Taylor insisted.

Cindy shrugged. "Fair enough, it's definitely not for everyone, especially if you haven't gotten rid of your gag reflex. That said, I highly recommend taking that modification. It makes things so much smoother, though some people enjoy having girls gag on their cocks. Most of those people are jerks, though."

"I'll keep it in mind," Taylor promised.

"That's all I ask." Looking at the screen, Cindy continued, "I don't think you'll be interested in the next option, either. It's basically a form of light humiliation where you allow anyone who has sex with you or otherwise uses you to write on you with a permanent marker."

There was a noticeable increase in insect noises in the room. "I'm pretty sure I'd swarm anyone who tried that," Taylor admitted. "It sounds far too much like bullying."

Cindy nodded, "I figured as much." She waited a few minutes until the noise diminished as Taylor calmed down before continuing, "Next up is good old spanking."

"Spanking?" Taylor asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Cindy replied. "There's three levels and can net you between two and six credits. Honestly, I'd recommend taking the first level at minimum. Basically, you'd only be spanked when your ratings drop to far, so it's entirely possible that it'll never happen, and even then, it's not very intense. Just a minute or two of having your ass tanned. It takes less than an hour to fully recover with the Repair Bots."

Taylor quirked an eyebrow and asked, "And who decides if my ratings are bad enough to deserve a spanking?"

"The Nielsen Company tracks the ratings and provides recommendations," Cindy explained. "It's mostly done through an algorithm, so there's very little room for someone to set you up for an unwarranted spanking. As for the other options, one has you getting daily spankings for ten minutes, and the other extends that time to an hour."

"Why would anyone sign up for that?" Taylor asked.

"Well, the masochism mods help," Cindy noted. "It can be quite exciting. I took the first option when I was a contestant, and I think I only got spanked something like four times a year."

"It still causes real damage, though, doesn't it?" Taylor asked.

"Sure," Cindy agreed, "but that's what the repair bots are for. The times my ratings dropped low enough, I was fine less than an hour later. I suspect the longer spankings would take longer to heal, but I doubt they'd be that bad."

"I guess that makes sense," Taylor reluctantly agreed. "I'm not sure I'd be able to put up with it, though. At least not daily. I guess you can put me down for the rating based one, it doesn't sound so bad.."

"Got it," Cindy said with a sudden smirk as she made a note. "The beatings will continue until ratings improve."

Taylor groaned. "How often do you use that joke?"

"As often as I can; it's a classic," Cindy said defensively. "Anyway, for you, the next punishment would amount to being handed a glass of semen to drink."

"Bleck, I'll pass."

"Are you sure?" Cindy asked. "It's a fairly easy three credits."

"I'm sure," Taylor said resolutely. "What's next?"

Scrolling down, Cindy considered for a moment and said, "Somehow I presume you aren't interested in bathing in a literal bathtub of semen once a week."

"You presume correctly," Taylor agreed. "How many of these punishments are just disgusting?"

Cindy quickly scrolled down the screen and back up before replying, "I think we've covered all of the really bad ones, at least for anyone who hasn't taken Cum Connoisseur. Anyway, the next one we haven't already covered is a gag. It starts with a simple ball gag at two credits, but if you opt for an inflatable dildo instead, you can get a full nine credits. Not too shabby. Of course, you really should be a telepath to take this option, or you'll have a hard time communicating at times. Then again, you can probably figure something out with your bugs to compensate."

Taylor thought for a moment. She had been making quite a lot of progress with her crickets, and she thought she might be able to figure something more complex out with a bit more practice and more bugs, but to not be able to talk for a full year? "I'll think about it," she decided. "I'm not really interested, but doesn't sound as bad as some of the other options."

"That's the spirit," Cindy cheered. "Next up are three clothing restrictions, with each being worth three credits apiece. It's a pretty good deal, especially if you have perfect homeostasis."

"Why would clothing restrictions need that?" Taylor asked, bewildered.

"Most people prefer to not get frostbite on their nipples or crotch," Cindy replied dryly. "Granted, the medical care we provide would take care of it, but it still wouldn't be much fun, even with the masochism mods. The other restriction is a requirement for a corset, which can be a problem when you're dealing with larger partners."

"Like Smaug?" Taylor asked.

"Like Smaug," Cindy confirmed. "Even with the stretchiest holes, you're still full of organs that want to go somewhere, and corsets tend to get in the way of that. Even if it isn't necessarily harmful, I can't see it being comfortable."

"Yeah, I think I'll pass on that," Taylor decided. "And on those other two options, as well."

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, they definitely aren't for everyone. Moving on," she continued, "we have a butt plug. Since you'll always be clean down there, it's mostly just a source of stimulation. It'll get you five credits."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Taylor mused.

"And," Cindy added, "you can get an extra ten credits by adding an inflatable dildo and having it all attached to latex underwear. If that's not enough, you can get another ten or fifteen credits for having mechanical underwear, which will fuck all your holes, with an option to give the controls to your viewers."

"Why would I want either of those things?" Taylor asked in shock.

"Viewer participation has been shown to increase ratings," Cindy replied. "And it does have a pretty good payout. So, interested at all?"

"I could probably handle the latex underwear," Taylor said a little dubiously, "but I'm not comfortable with anything mechanical. And I definitely don't trust people on the internet."

"Yeah… I can definitely agree there," Cindy agreed. "Pro tip: if you have an AI, have it filter your messages, social media, and forum use. You'll be grateful to not see some of what gets written there. And as for giving your viewers control… let's just say I'm glad my AI could override things."

"I'm definitely not going with the viewer controlled mechanical underwear, then." Taylor thought for a moment and said, "Add the latex underwear option to the maybe list."

"Will do," Cindy replied cheerfully. "I don't think you'll regret it. It's a lot of fun. Next we have vibrators, which you'll be required to wear at all times. Your owners will, naturally, have a remote. You can also double the reward by having them basically everywhere, and double it again by having the science guys implant some experimental nano-material in all your erogenous zones."

"I could see using vibrators everywhere," Taylor said, "But I don't like the sound of having something like that implanted in me."

"It's a lot of fun and can let you pull off some interesting party tricks," Cindy noted. "Here, give me your hand a moment."

Taylor took the offered hand before yelping in shock. "What was that?" she demanded.

"That would be the vibrating nanomaterial in my hands," Cindy explained. "They haven't worked out all the bugs yet, so sometimes they start up on their own. Still, they can be a lot of fun, for both you and your partners."

"I'll pass," Taylor said resolutely. "If they can just turn on on their own, that could be a problem when I'm in the middle of a fight or something."

"Good point," Cindy conceded. "So, want to just add the vibrators to the list? It's a lot easier to get used to a steady vibration than it is to get used to random ones."

"The maybe list, please," Taylor replied.

Cindy made a note before saying, "And next up, we have urethral play. Since you also chose the Optimized Digestion U option, it basically boils down to more stimulation, for a decent five credits. Of course, you wouldn't be able to get the catheter option, but that's one of those ones I don't think you'd enjoy, anyway."

Taylor nodded in agreement. "That sounds doable. Add it to the maybe list."

"Alright," Cindy replied, making the notation. "I can't see you going for mental manipulation, so we'll skip that for now." Taylor's deadpan look readily revealed her feelings on that option. "And move on to high heels."

"I've never worn heels in my life," Taylor admitted.

"Hmm," Cindy mused, "that would lead to some hilarious video, but tripping while fighting is a good way to die when you're a magical girl… It's only worth five credits, so I'd skip it if I were you. Besides, without reinforcing your tendons, it could get pretty painful after a while, and they aren't giving you that option."

"Definitely skipping it," Taylor agreed, shuddering at the thought of both trying to fight in unfamiliar shoes and the pain wearing heels all the time would cause. "What's next?"

"Next up is another option I don't think you'd be interested in," Cindy replied. "For another five credits, we can make you a cum addict. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like, including the withdrawal symptoms."

"Nope," Taylor said firmly. "Not interested."

"I didn't think you would be. Next up is a music hijack." Cindy continued, "Your owners, or your viewers, control what you can listen to."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Taylor admitted.

"You don't listen to much music, do you?" Cindy asked with a smile.

"Not really, no," Taylor admitted.

"In that case, it might be fine," Cindy agreed. "Of course, that's assuming they don't decide silence counting as listening to something and forcing the issue." She paused for a minute and added, "It would also make it more difficult to find reference material for practicing with your bugs, if you're interested in trying to have them make music. Or trying to learn how to hear through your insects."

"That's a good point," Taylor said. "Let's put it on the maybe list. It's probably not something I want to deal with, but it doesn't sound too horrible."

"Will do," Cindy replied. "The next thing on the list is some good old fashioned public humiliation. Basically, we strip you down and put you on display for four hours once a week."

Taylor cocked her head in thought. "And the people looking on? Can they do anything to the people on display? It sounds an awful lot like bullying again."

"Nope," Cindy replied. "It's purely a look and don't touch situation. Sure, some people will be jerks, but we also tend to have enough people going through it at once that it isn't too bad for any single individual. It's also worth eight credits."

"That's pretty good and isn't too terrible," Taylor mused. "And I'll have a swarm if anything untoward happens… add it to the maybe list for now, please."

"Right," Cindy said. "Next up is the wooden horse."

"The what?" Taylor asked.

"It's when..." Cindy began before trailing off. "You know what, never mind. I'm just going to show you a few pictures." Suiting actions to words, she pulled up a few images.

"That doesn't look fun at all," Taylor noted, looking at pictures with a hint of trepidation.

"That's what masochist mods and repair bots are for," Cindy replied. "Anyway, there's two options. You can either sit on one for four hours a week or we can replace all your chairs with them, and you'll be required to use them whenever possible."

Taylor sighed. "Add the first option to the maybe list, I guess."

"It's not all as bad as you probably think it is, or so I'm told," Cindy commented as she marked down the option. "I mean, yeah, it'll hurt, but it's only four hours a week. The chair option sounds much more annoying to deal with." Scrolling down on the screen slightly, she continued, "And your next option is getting a corset piercing every week. It's a bit weird, but was also kind of fun the few times I tried it. It's pretty much a steal at eight credits, especially as the repair bots will take care of any issues." Seeing the lost look on Taylor's face, she pulled up an image. "They basically make a bunch of parallel piercings and lace them together," she explained.

"That looks pretty," Taylor noted, "but it doesn't look very practical."

"That's why it's only done for four hours," Cindy said. "So, interested?"

"A little," Taylor admitted. "Add it to the maybe list, please?"

"Sure, will do." Pulling the contract screen back up, she continued, "And next up is a water tank. You'd be sealed inside for four hours, but we'll also give you gills, so it's not too bad."

"Yes," Taylor said.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, sign me up," Taylor repeated. "I want gills."

"Okay," Cindy said uncertainty. "Any reason why?"

"I live on the coast and Leviathan exists," Taylor said simply. "Being able to breath water sounds like a good survival strategy. Sure, it won't stop Leviathan from killing me if he wants to, but it'll help if I'm just knocked unconscious and floating face down or something."

"Not living on the coast sounds like a much better plan," Cindy opined.

Taylor shrugged. "It's not like anywhere else is much safer, what with Behemoth and the Simurgh."

"Another planet would be," Cindy noted.

"Sure, but that wouldn't be home," Taylor said with a shrug. "Besides, aren't you trying to recruit me as a recruiter or something?"

"Good point, forget everything I just said," Cindy joked with a smirk. "Anyway, the next option is sensory deprivation, which probably won't really matter to you, what with the bugs, unless we go to the small quarters variant and… are you all right?"

Taylor was pale and shivering at the thought. "No small spaces, please. Too much like the locker."

"Ah, right," Cindy said, hurriedly giving Taylor a hug. "Don't worry, you won't need to use that option. Plenty of other choices." After a moment, she added, "Hey, we're about half done with the punishments. Do you want to take a break?"

Taylor shook her head and forced herself to calm down. "No, no. I'll be alright. I've got to get over it sometime."

"Possibly, but that time doesn't need to be now," Cindy said. "Our advanced medical services include psychological help for a reason. I'd suggest making use of it; it'll help."

"Can we just move on?" Taylor asked.

"Sure. Next we can inject you with nanobots," Cindy began before being interrupted.

"Aren't you already going to be giving me those?" Taylor asked.

"Well, yes," Cindy admitted. "I suppose it would be more accurate to say that your nanobots would also be programmed to fix your hymen each night. Unless you're hard up for ten credits or you have a virginity fetish, it's probably more hassle than it's worth."

"How does that work if you also have the double dildo underwear?" Taylor asked.

Cindy blinked. "You know, that's a really good question, and I don't know the answer. Do you want me to ask for you?"

"Not really," Taylor denied with a shake of her head. "I'm mostly just curious."

"Fair enough," Cindy replied. "Moving on, we get to a curse that will almost guarantee you get sexual nightmares. It's good for ten credits, but I'm not sure the disturbed sleep is worth it."

"Probably not," Taylor agreed. "At least it's better than some of the other punishments."

"There is that," Cindy replied. "Anyway, the next one is a fun one. Breast expansion." She hit the graphic, allowing it to play out, with the portrayed girl's breasts expanding from a small A-cup to something large enough to interfere with movement. "Your owners would be able to set your breast size at will, from your default minimum size up to… well, there isn't really a limit," she explained. "You can also give control to your viewers or leave it up to random chance for additional credits. It's also one of the few punishments where you can purchase an option to control it yourself as well."

"That sounds like it could be fun," Taylor said, eyes glued to the still playing graphic. "I think I'd be willing to take it if only the owners and I had control."

"We can do that," Cindy agreed, making the notation. Looking down at her own fairly modest chest, she added, "Playing with big boobs can be fun, but it's not really practical, especially for a magical girl or a superhero. Having a remote for them is a happy compromise." Scrolling down the screen again, she continued, "And next we have two versions of chastity. One is a fairly simple chastity belt, it'll prevent you from having sex, but won't stop you from relieving yourself, assuming you would actually need to do so. The other takes the idea to the extreme and includes a lot of chains, thigh bands, and a few other things I'm not quite sure how to use."

"That sounds complicated," Taylor noted, looking over the provided pictures. "But otherwise doesn't seem too bad.

"As an interesting note, you can't wear the chastity belt and have the double dildo panties at the same time. You can still have the butt plug and a dildo, though. If you want both the butt plug, dildo, and the full chastity treatment, the whole set is worth thirty-three credits. I still wouldn't recommend it, though."

"Why not?" Taylor asked. "It doesn't sound too bad."

Cindy shrugged. "Sometimes, you just want to get laid. With that get up, the best you could hope for would be getting some stimulation from your plugs between visits with your owners. Hell, I'm pretty sure the belt only comes off while you're with them officially, so even living with them won't help if I'm right about that."

Taylor winced. "That sounds pretty annoying," she admitted. "Still, can you add it to my maybe list?"

With a sigh and a shrug, Cindy complied. "I think you'd regret it, but it's your choice. Anyway, the next one is one I don't recommend taking. Basically, you can agree to completely forgo all forms of contraceptives for the year. This includes condoms, so there's a very good chance you'll get pregnant."

"Definitely not doing that," Taylor said. "Dad would kill me."

"Right," Cindy said. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure you don't want to know about the next option, so I'm just going to skip it. After that, we have pet play. Basically, you'll be required to act like an actual animal while in your apartment. This includes wearing a tail and ears and eating out of a dog bowl. It's worth ten credits, and you can get another fifteen credits if you want to wear a bitch suit that'll keep you on all fours."

"I don't think I'm interested in any of that," Taylor said.

"It's fun in small doses," Cindy replied, "but it definitely isn't something I'd suggest full time. Now, on the topic of pets, you can also opt to live with a large, dominant, and horny animal. It will probably fuck you."

"Not if I set my swarm on it, it won't," Taylor muttered. "No, I don't think that one's a good idea, either."

"Probably not," Cindy agreed. "Moving on, we've got this parasitic alien suit. Don't worry, it's harmless. It lives primarily off of excreted bodily fluids, so it'll pleasure you constantly while still allowing people to access your holes."

"That really doesn't sound like a good idea," Taylor said hesitantly.

"You can still wear your clothes over it and it's worth fifteen credits," Cindy commented. "I know girls who tried to have a run just to get one of their own. We turn a surprising number of them down, actually."

"I mean, alright, sure, it sounds pretty good," Taylor replied, "but I'm not sure I trust the idea." She sighed heavily. "You know what, fine, add it to the maybe list. I'll give it more thought later."

"Alright, will do," Cindy said. "Looking over the next few options, I don't think you'll be interested, so I'm going to skip them as well. After those ones, there's the tentacle pit. Now, I know what you're thinking."

"Why do you even have a tentacle pit as on option?" Taylor demanded.

"Alright, so I don't know what your thinking," Cindy replied with a shrug. "To answer your question in one word, hentai. In more words, perverts like watching people get molested by tentacles. Anyway, this is one of those punishments I recommend you take."

"Why would I want to be molested by tentacles?" Taylor asked.

"Well, it is a lot of fun," Cindy answered. "But the reason you should take this punishment is that, much like the spankings, it's actually possible to avoid the tentacles entirely if you're careful, and with your bugs that should be easy. They're worth twenty credits, so it's really not a bad deal. All they do is put a portal in your room that leads to a tentacle pit. Sure, you'll be stuck there for several hours if you fall in, but it shouldn't be that hard to avoid, right?"

"If you say so," Taylor said doubtfully. "But I guess you can add it to the maybe list."

"Right," Cindy said, doing so. "After that, we have two more I don't think you'd be interested in, followed by a special chip we can implant that would, depending on how it's programmed, allow your owners to control your ability to sleep or orgasm. There's a bunch of sub options, so I'll just give you my opinion on the best options and leave you to figure out what you want to do for yourself if you're interested. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Taylor agreed.

"Sleep control can be fun, but it can also be a bit scary," Cindy began, "so while I'd usually recommend it, I'm not sure it's a good idea for you. It's not actually one of the ones I took, but I've heard generally positive reviews. Then again, there's also the question of how your abilities would react to it." Shaking her head to clear it, she made a note in another window before continuing, "As for the climax control chip, it's not too bad, and you can get a control for yourself for only five credits. You can also set it up to increase the amount of edging you experience with it, which can be fun in the long term, if frustrating short term."

"How so?" Taylor asked, having not heard the term before.

"Basically, all of your built up orgasms will hit at once, giving a wild ride while you come down from them. That said, I'd stay away from the Prohibition mod. It'll make it so you can never cum again. Even if you pony up for its eventual removal, it'll mean a full year without being able to orgasm, and that isn't very fun at all. The climax control chip is also probably the only one I would normally say would be safe to let the viewers control, more than any of the others… except you're going to be a magical girl, and climaxing during combat is a good way to die. Then again, that shouldn't matter unless you were about to orgasm, anyway, which would probably already be distracting enough to get you in trouble."

"I'll keep that in mind," Taylor said. "And add it to the maybe list. It sounds like at least the climax control could be useful while fighting if I can fight through the arousal or get a few safe moments to release the tension." Cindy did so, and Taylor asked, "What's left?"

"Just one last thing," Cindy announced. "You can opt to have a special vibrator placed in your womb. It would vibrate, rotate, and kick to emulate a baby, but which much more force. Hell, you can opt to have two or three of the little bastards in there, if you want."

Taylor paled. "I'm not ready to know what that feels like. I'll pass."

"I wasn't either," Cindy agreed. "There's no need to rush into something like that."

"So we're done going through all of the options?" Taylor asked, fighting back a yawn.

"All of the punishment options I thought you'd be even remotely interested in, at least," Cindy corrected. "There's still a few things to go through, and then you'll need to confirm everything before we finalize the contract."

"Can it wait until tomorrow?" Taylor asked. "I'm getting kind of tired."

"Sure, no problem," Cindy replied, standing up and gathering her things. "I'll see myself out. You go get some rest. Goodnight, Taylor."

"Goodnight, Cindy."


	12. Recruitment 1:11

Recruitment 1.11

[hr][/hr]

"Good morning!" Cindy called as entered the station's main room, pushing a cart with a large tub on it. "Sleep well?"

"Well enough," Taylor replied while having her golden orb weaver feed on one of the ants. Looking toward the tub, she asked, "Did you bring me a beehive or something?"

Cindy smirked and replied, "No, I didn't get this for you. I'm not even sure what else I can easily get my hands on, other than a hissing cockroach or something. No, this is a gift from a Professor Platt. According to the tag, it's a thank you gift for agreeing to be his daughter's friend."

"I'm not sure friends is the best name for our probable relationship," Taylor noted dryly. "Though I definitely appreciate the effort. And the bees." Cocking her head to the side, she added, "And the worms?"

"Worms?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah, there's a bunch of worms in there," Taylor confirmed. "I guess I can control them, too. Apparently."

Cindy nodded. "That's good to know. I'll let the proper people know."

"Good," Taylor said, heading over to tub. "Now I just need to let them out so they can stretch their wings a bit."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cindy asked nervously. "I'd rather not get stung, even if I don't think it'll do much to me."

Taylor waved the concern off, even as she opened the tub. "They wouldn't sting you unless I wanted them to, assuming they even could."

"What do you mean?"

"These bees don't have stingers," Taylor replied. "They're perfectly safe." She had one of the bees land on her finger and held it up for Cindy to inspect. "See?" she asked, pointing at the bee's back end. "No stinger."

"Well, that'll make keeping them around once you're in your apartment easier, at least," Cindy commented. "Anyway, ready for today?"

"You gave me a lot to think about last night, and I'm a bit worried about that psychic's visit," Taylor said.

"That's understandable," Cindy stated. "She's planning to poke around in your brain a little, just to make sure it'll be safe for others to be be near you. That's bound to be stressful."

"Can she really ban me from traveling to certain planets?" Taylor asked, stroking the back of her spider with a single finger as though it were a cat.

"She has a lot of clout," Cindy began, "but not quite that much. What she can do, though, is put pressure on the Slut Life executives by threatening to keep her psychics from participating to force them to station you on a more limited range of planets."

"I'm… not sure I see the difference," Taylor admitted.

"There isn't really one, at least in the short term," Cindy explained, "but, in the long term, you'd still be able to travel normally."

Taylor sighed in relief. "That's good to know. I'm not sure I even want to travel between a bunch of different worlds, or if I'll be able to without a lot of help, but I was worried that if I could, I'd still be stuck with only a few worlds I could visit."

"I don't know anyone with that much authority," Cindy replied. "At least not without it being something much more serious. I mean, if your power eats psychics for lunch or enslaves any who come too close, that might be enough to get you restricted, but that's really unlikely."

"Isn't that what Mistress Fiorenza is coming here to figure out?"

"Pretty much," Cindy replied with a shrug. "I don't think it's terribly likely. Anyway, while we wait for her to show up, do you want to go over the different adjustments you can make to your contract?"

"Sure," Taylor replied. "It'll at least give us something to do."

"Alright," Cindy continued, "the first thing to keep in mind is that you can only select one of each set of adjustments. The first set has to do with the length of your run."

Taylor nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. I don't see how you could change the length of the show multiple times. What are the options?"

"Keeping in mind that the show defaults to one year," Cindy began. "The first option is to pay fifty credits to be done in six months. Since we're going to be putting you back when we got you, anyway, I wouldn't recommend it. The number of extra punishments you'd have to take to pay for it is likely to be unpleasant."

"It does sound tempting," Taylor admitted, "but you're probably right. Besides, I'm not sure six months would give me enough experience with everything."

"I'm sure you'd do fine with less than that," Cindy countered with a smile, "but the extra time wouldn't hurt, so long as you're careful when you fight."

Taylor smirked. "Oh, if things work the way I think they will, I should be alright."

"That's good to hear," Cindy replied. "Anyway, the second option is to extend your contract. Now, there's a good chance this would end up with you getting spanked, as the minimum length of an extended contract is five years, and it's hard to keep an audience interested that long. You can extend it up to a total of ten years and get an additional ten credits per year, including the initial year, which is nice."

"I don't think I'd want to be away from home that long," Taylor decided.

"I don't blame you," Cindy agreed. "I usually only recommend it for people who are getting an entire second childhood or want to focus on getting an entire education out of it."

"That seems reasonable," Taylor agreed. "So, what's the next option?"

"Next is signing on forever," Cindy said. "I haven't signed anyone up for it, and I can't actually think of any reason I'd recommend it for anyone. There's plenty of other options if it's a fetish for them or something, including simply signing up for another ten year stint once their current one is up."

Taylor sat thinking for a few minutes before saying, "I keep trying to think of a reason someone would want to sign up for that, but the closest I can think of are taken care of by either keeping the apartment or getting a planet. I mean, I could see someone trying to trick a person into picking it, but that's about the only reason I could see someone doing so."

"That's pretty much my thought as well," Cindy agreed. "Now, to get off of that lovely topic, we have the final option. You can decide to become a sex slave. You get one hundred fifty extra credits and will be on the show for five years. At that point, you get auctioned off to the highest bidder. It's not something I recommend, but I've seen people take it."

"I can't see that ending well," Taylor opined. "I haven't heard of many rich people who are both willing to buy someone and likely to treat them well, even in fiction."

"There's a few," Cindy replied, "but it is a rather large risk. Much less risky is paying the fifty credits to be able to choose who'll get you at the end of your show, out of your owners."

"It's still not something I would choose," Taylor said, "but it definitely sounds a lot better than being auctioned off."

Cindy nodded in agreement. "If I hadn't been planning on working for Slut Life when I signed up, I could see myself having taken that option, had I known how great my owners would be at the time." She chuckled. "The hardest part would have been choosing only one to be my new master. I'm much happier with the more casual relationships I'm maintaining with some of them."

Taylor blushed. "If you say so. I don't think I'm going to take any of those options, though."

Cindy nodded. "They really aren't worth it in your case. Especially since you actually want to go home."

"What are the other adjustments?" Taylor asked.

"They're a mishmash of different options," Cindy answered, "though you can only pick one of them with this contract." Scrolling the screen down to the correct section, she continued, "The first one won't apply to you, since you don't plan on having any kids during your run, and are only going to be here a year anyway." Before Taylor could comment, she continued, "Personally, I don't think the second option is worth it, but it does give you something to do if you somehow have extra credits when you're done. Basically, you can cash any remaining credits you have in for $1000 each."

"That sounds like a pretty good deal," Taylor noted before thinking about it and adding, "if I weren't already getting a couple million dollars."

Cindy nodded her agreement. "Most people who would care about the money easily make enough for that option to be pocket change. It's only really useful in some fairly specific cases."

"I'll keep it in mind," Taylor said, "but I'm pretty sure I can get more use out of some of the cosmetic options than out of a couple grand."

"Extra long tongues are always a good party trick," Cindy noted, waggling her very long tongue at Taylor and causing the teen to blush. "Anyway, the next option is an option to change a punishment somewhat. You can choose between breast milk, semen, or sexual fluids instead of the fluid you should be using for that option."

"I'm not sure what to say about that," Taylor admitted.

"That's fine," Cindy said. "You aren't planning on taking any of the punishments it'd apply to anyway, so it isn't really worth worrying about. I just thought you should know in case you do end up picking one of those punishments later."

"Thanks," Taylor said. "I'm pretty sure a glass of breast milk would be less disturbing than a glass of semen, or something."

"It'd be good for your bones, at least," Cindy agreed. "Moving on, we have a new identity with valid identification. It's pretty useful if you change your appearance enough, though you should be young enough to get away with it unless you go overboard. It's also good for witness protection type issues, but that doesn't apply to you. Either way, it costs fifteen credits. Nothing terrible, but not an insignificant amount."

"No," Taylor mused, "I don't think I'll be needing that. I don't plan on having anything that drastic done that can't be explained by the puberty fairy."

"Right." Cindy looked back at the screen and continued, "Next is a vacation, but it can't be selected unless you have an extended contract. It would get you a week to yourself, free from owners and punishments, once a year. And finally, we have a safe word. Basically, you'd pick a word and could use it to stop whatever is going on when you use it. Of course, that's bad for ratings, so abusing it will have it taken away."

"That," Taylor said. "I want that."

"It's really not as useful as you'd think," Cindy said, "and it costs a full twenty credits for something you can have taken away."

"I don't care, I want a safe word," Taylor insisted. In the background the crickets began chirping an oddly unsettling note.

"I'm not going to stop you if you really want one," Cindy said placatingly. "It's just a lot to spend on something they can decide to take away from you."

"Cindy, think about it," Taylor began. "If something is pushing me too far and I can't stop it, what'll happen?" She gave Cindy a moment to think before continuing, "I'll probably swarm them with bugs. I'm sure that would get me into even more trouble."

Cindy nodded seriously. "You're right, I hadn't thought about that. A safe word is definitely a good idea in your case. I'll have to see if we can get you a discount or a refund on it or something, since it'd be more for the others than for yourself. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Taylor said. "I want to be a hero, and starting out by attacking people isn't really the best way to do it."

"No problem," Cindy replied. "It's what I'm here for. Anyway, that's the last part of the contract, so all that's left is picking what you want on it and submitting it." Looking at her watch she added, "And we should be getting company pretty soon. Want to go for a jog before Mistress Fiorenza gets here?"

Taylor stood and stretched. "That sounds good. Once she leaves, do you think I'd be able to talk to one of those guards?"

"It shouldn't be an issue. What about?" Cindy asked.

"I've been looking through the magazines they gave me, and I think I've narrowed things down for a few options," Taylor explained, "but I don't know enough about them to really make a good choice. One of the guards should have a better idea if what I want would work."

"I'll ask one of them to come up when Mistress Fiorenza leaves," Cindy promised. "But if you want to get a jog in first, we should get started. She should be here in an hour or so."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Taylor grumbled, making her way out of the room.

[hr][/hr]

Psychic Mistress Fiorenza Campos made her way to the station's portal with a purposeful stride. While she did appreciate the looks she was getting from those she passed, she had little time for simple pleasures at the moment. She had an appointment to keep, after all. She nodded to one of the guards as she approached. Unlike a number of the people she had passed, they were maintaining a mostly professional outlook.

"Morning, Ma'am," the guard called out. "I see you're scheduled to see Miss Hebert?"

She did notice a strange hint of amusement under the professionalism, but that was fine. With boring jobs like guarding, it was important to find little amusements where you can. "Yes," she replied. "I am. Is there anything I should know before heading up?"

"She just finished working through most of the contract," the guard replied, "so she's in a pretty good mood. That said, she seems to have something against telepaths. I'd suggest telling her exactly what you're going to do before doing it and back off if she tells you to." His smile turned feral for a moment as he added, "Unless you want to be attacked by ants."

"Thank you for the advice," Fiorenza said, taking it as the serious warning it was. Ants were a minor nuisance at most, but even a small colony would be unpleasant to deal with if it attacked en masse."I take it she decided to not have a Psychic as one of her owners?"

"Oh," the guard said, shaking his head in amusement, "that's putting it lightly. If Cindy wasn't so curious about you guys sending two messages, they wouldn't even have known you were coming."

Fiorenza blinked. She could tell he was telling the truth, and that was a troubling thought. "I didn't realize she would be that adamantly against psychics. I hope my presence won't cause any difficulty."

"Nah," the guard said, waving her concerns off. "You should be fine. Taylor's a good girl. Very pragmatic. So long as you don't try to attack her or anything you should be fine." Waving toward the portal, he added, "You might as well head on up. They're waiting for you."

"Thank you," she replied, making her way through the portal. She caught herself in the entrance room, regaining her bearings after the disorientation caused by leaving so many minds behind in an instant. "I hate portals," she grumbled. She much prefered the comfort of travelling on a proper starship, even if it was much slower. Once she had regained her composure, she made her way deeper into the station, heading toward the two minds she could feel.

"Hello," a fairly young voice called as she approached. "You must be Mistress Fiorenza," the black haired youth continued once she had entered the room. "I'm Taylor Hebert. It's nice to meet you."

"How did you know I was there?" Fiorenza asked curiously. "I know I don't make that much noise walking, and you were greeting me before I even made it to the room."

Taylor smiled, and knelt down, placing a hand on the ground. When she stood up, she had an ant on one of her fingers. "I had this little gal wait on a web I had my spider string across the door in the entrance room and had her hitch a ride once you came through. We thought it might be good practice."

"We're still finding new things she can do with her abilities," the redhead who must be Miss Matos replied. "I'm Cindy Matos. Good to meet you, Mistress Fiorenza."

"Pleased to meet you as well," Fiorenza replied. "But, please, call me Fiorenza. While I am here in my official capacity as the school's Headmistress, neither of you are my students. We shouldn't need to maintain quite as much formality as I must with my charges."

"Alright, Fiorenza," Cindy said with a friendly smile. "Why don't you tell us a bit more about what you hope to find out today?"

Fiorenza noticed that Taylor was also listening intently. "As I said in my message, we are unsure how a biological supercomputer being attached to your brain would affect those of us with telepathy. In the interest of public safety, I feel this potential interaction must be examined more closely, before you are exposed to the general population."

"What do you need from me?" Taylor asked. The girl was definitely wary. She would need to proceed cautiously.

"Simply by standing here without needing to protect myself, we've already proven that you are not an exposure risk," Fiorenza explained. That had been her greatest fear, and she was glad to see that it was unfounded.

"What do you mean by that?" Taylor asked, showing a commendable curiosity as well as healthy caution.

"Simply being in your presence will not be enough to cause issues," Fiorenza elaborated, "though you may still be able to affect psychics if you make the attempt or if we attempt to read or influence you. With your permission, I would like to test each of these scenarios. While I will not attempt to restrict your movement if you refuse, it will give both of us a better idea of what you are capable of and what issues having psychics in your vicinity could cause, should they be less than disciplined."

"I guess that makes sense," Taylor began, "but I'm not really comfortable letting someone try to Master me, even if it's just as a test."

"Master?" Fiorenza asked, quirking an eyebrow toward Cindy.

"It's the term used on her Earth for people who can control others," Cindy explained. "Considering most of the ones who can affect humans have decided to be villains, I can understand why she's hesitant."

"Hm." Fiorenza thought for a moment. "I'm really not sure what I can do to reassure you that I won't do anything untoward, beyond giving you my word as one of the premier trainers of psychics across the multiverse. Ethics is most definitely covered in detail. It has to be with the influence we can have on others."

"And if that isn't enough," Cindy added, "the guards on the ground have been switched out and given orders to shut down the portal if anything weird happens. It'd take quite a bit of time to get through quarantine after that."

"You have M/S protocols in place?" Taylor asked with a sigh of relief. "In that case, I guess I don't mind testing whatever it is you want to test."

"Thank you," Fiorenza said graciously, deciding to not mention how she could place mental commands subtly enough that they'd slip through such precautions. It wouldn't accomplish anything productive, and she had no intention of doing so to begin with.. "Now, before we begin the first test, I have a question." Taylor gestured for her to ask, so she did. "When you take control of an insect, are you able to release that control, or is it permanent?"

"That's a bit of a hard question to answer," Taylor replied. "I always know about all of the insects in my range, and can control them at will, but I can also let them continue acting as they would without my influence. I usually let the ants take care of themselves, for instance."

"Good." Fiorenza continued, "I want you to try to control me."

"How?" Taylor asked. "You're not a bug. If it weren't for the ant, I wouldn't even have been able to track you earlier."

"Hmm, give me a moment, dear," Fiorenza said. "I need to think on this." She gave the matter a few moments of thought before proposing, "The next thing I wanted to test was if attempting to properly contact your mind would have any additional effects. If you were to attempt to gain control at the point between making contact and trying to exert influence, we can test your ability to control psychics who are attempting to control you. It might not answer the initial question, but it is a good starting point."

"I can try," Taylor said doubtfully.

"Alright, I'm making the connection now," Fiorenza said, before nearly toppling over. Grabbing the side of her head with one hand and steadying herself with her other hand, she barely kept herself upright. "That is quite the unexpected experience," she commented. "If I had to guess, I would have to say the supercomputer you're connected to is handling a large amount of your neural activity."

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked. The girl obviously did not have a comprehensive, or even a fairly rudimentary, understanding of how the brain and mind worked, which, Fiorenza supposed, was not entirely surprising, considering her age and where she'd been raised.

Straightening up, Fiorenza explained. "The amount of sensory information you're processing is, frankly, absurd, even accounting for the amount of overlap you're receiving from the ant colony and bee hive. I can confidently say that very few psychics would choose to use your senses if they could at all help it. At least not without removing every insect form the vicinity first, which I'm sure you would notice." Shaking her head, she added, "I am ready for you to proceed."

"Right," Taylor said. "Um, I can't really tell you're doing anything. And I still don't know how I'm supposed to do anything to you."

"Well, that's a relief," Fiorenza said. "It is definitely safe for psychics to be around you in general, then." Hesitantly, she added, "There is one last thing I would like to test. It is possible for psychics to implant suggestions into your mind. With your permission, I would like to attempt to do so, in order to see what would happen."

"What are you planning on having me do?" Taylor asked.

"I'm planning on using a fairly common parlor trick, as it is easy to do, fairly obvious, and easily undone," Fiorenza explained vaguely. "For purposes of not influencing the results, I would prefer to not inform you of what, exactly, I will be doing."

"No thanks," Taylor said. "That's not very specific, and I'd rather not have anyone mess with my head."

"What if she tells me what she plans to do and I'll let you know if I think it's reasonable?" Cindy offered.

Taylor hesitated, but Fiorenza refrained from nudging her thought processes in the correct direction. While it would be a decent test in and of itself, it would also ruin any trust she had built so far, for far too little gain. Finally, the girl answered, "That'll work, I guess."

Giving the younger girl a nod and suppressing her sigh of relief, Fiorenza made her way over to Cindy and whispered in her ear. Sure, she could have transferred the information telepathically, but she had a feeling Taylor would not have appreciated her doing so. Once she was done conveying her plans, Cindy stepped back and said, "It doesn't sound that bad at all."

"Alright," Taylor said. She was still hesitant, but was putting on a brave face. "What do you need me to do?"

Fiorenza quickly made the change, making note of a completely baseline resistance to the suggestion, and said, "I just need you to walk over here, please."

"Sure, no problem," Taylor said, before failing to stand up. "Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, already starting to panic. "Why can't I get up?" Several crickets hopped into the room, chirping up a storm. Closely following on their heels were a veritable river of ants.

"Taylor," Fiorenza loudly said, trying to catch the girl's attention before the rising panic set in too deeply. "It's alright! I just made your subconscious mind think your legs don't work. It'll take but a moment to fix it." Taylor was already beginning to hyperventilate and the insects were starting to amass in numbers large enough to be worrisome. Fiorenza quickly removed the compulsion before gently saying, "Try standing up, now."

Shakily and hesitantly, Taylor rose to her feet. "That was not fun," she stated.

"No, I suspect not," Fiorenza agreed. "However, it did yield important information that will help you stay safe. Provided the psychic making the attempt stays away from using your senses or affecting your connection to your insects, you are no more protected from psionic attacks than any other normal person."

Still shaken, Taylor asked, "Is there anything I can do to stop that from happening again?"

"Without being psychic, there is only so much you can do," Fiorenza admitted. "Though there are some meditation and mental exercises that can help. If you like, I can see about sending you a book on beginner's techniques."

"I'd appreciate that, thanks," Taylor said, calming down significantly. Simply having the promise of a goal to work toward seemed to do the girl a world of good. It was a shame she was so averse to being a telepath. Drive like that could take her quite far, indeed.

"That is all I was looking to test," Fiorenza said. "And, unfortunately, my schedule is quite busy. Is there anything else you'd like to ask before I make my exit?"

"Not that I can think of currently," Taylor replied. "Did you have any, Cindy?"

Cindy shook her head. "No, I'm good. It was nice to meet you, Fiorenza. I'm sure I'll be talking with you again in the future."

"Yes, that does seem likely," Fiorenza agreed. "Taylor, I wish you luck in the coming year. Have a good day." The teenager wished her goodbye as well, and she made her way off of the station. She had much to think on. Biological supercomputers that were both connected, and not connected, to a person were really rather fascinating, and she would love to learn more about them. Unfortunately, it looked like having a good way to study the phenomena from a psionic standpoint would be some time off, as Miss Hebert was not likely to consent to the in depth psionic scans needed, and was probably not the best candidate, regardless, if she really did see the world in such overwhelming detail at all times.


	13. Recruitment 1:12

Recruitment 1.12

[hr][/hr]

Once Fiorenza had left, Cindy turned to Taylor, "I'm just going to pop out for a little while to talk to the guards. Did you have a list of the guns you were interested in?"

"Yeah," Taylor replied. "Let me get it." She remained seated.

"Um, Taylor," Cindy began, "aren't you going to get the list?"

"I am," Taylor replied as a group of ants trooped in, carrying a piece of paper among them.

"Right," Cindy said, rubbing at a temple. "I forgot you could do that."

Taylor grinned. "It's really convenient," she declared. "I've even got a bit of web stuck to the light switch, so I can have my ants turn the lights on and off for me. Now I don't have to go to bed in the dark."

"I'm not sure if that's lazy or brilliant," Cindy admitted. "I think I'm jealous." Taylor just grinned. Shaking her head good humouredly, the redhead continued, "I'm going to head out now. Want me to get you anything specific while I'm out?"

Taylor though for a moment before saying, "Not really. Other than more bugs to play with or to have around to feed all my baby spiders with when they hatch, I can't think of anything, and I should be out of here pretty soon, right?"

"You should be," Cindy agreed. "Right now, we're pretty much waiting on you finishing your contract and the scientists preparing for whatever they need to do." Standing, she headed to the door. "Anyways, I'll be back soon. Just keep plugging away at that contract."

"Will do," Taylor replied. "I'll make a list of any specific questions I come up with while I'm at it."

"Good plan," Cindy agreed. "I'll see you later, alright?"

"See you later," Taylor called back, already clicking around the contract screen. Cindy made her way out of the room, leaving Taylor to her task.

[hr][/hr]

Once she was back on Earth, Cindy made her way to one of the guards. "Good afternoon," she began. "You're Johnson, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," the guard replied. "Sergeant Richard Johnson. What can I do for you?"

"When you handed me the stack of magazines, it was mentioned that several of the guards might be willing to volunteer their expertise," Cindy replied leadingly.

"Yes, ma'am. I take it Miss Hebert narrowed her choices down to a few things?" Johnson asked.

"She did," Cindy said with a nod. Holding out the paper, she continued, "Here's the short list. I looked it over, but it's pretty much meaningless to me." She shrugged. "Guns were never something I was particularly interested in."

Johnson chuckled. "That's fine. Being a gun aficionado definitely isn't for everyone." He looked over the list and whistled. "For only a few days, this is surprisingly thought out. She goes into why she's considering each model and what else she needs to know to consider its viability."

Cindy nodded. "I especially enjoyed the 'I would consider this if there was any chance the ammunition existed' list."

"Just its existence shows she's taking this seriously," Johnson agreed. "Of course, she could have just left it out entirely, but wish lists are always fun." Looking the list over again, he added, "All of this looks fairly standard and shouldn't be too hard to scrounge together. If this works, she's going to blow those other magical girls away."

"Not literally, I hope," Cindy said.

Johnson shrugged. "Sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do." Holding the paper up again, he added, "I'll take this back to the guys and see what we can scrape together for her. We'll send up whoever has the most experience with these, along with at least one gun for her to work with. Hell, I know I've got at least one of these back in my bunk."

"Great," Cindy said gratefully. "Thanks for all the help."

"No problem, ma'am," Johnson replied. "We're all waiting to see how those musket girls compare to someone with proper hardware." He grinned and added, "The hard part is going to be finding people to bet against. Most of my betting buddies will be rooting for her as well."

Cindy smiled and said, "Sorry, but I won't be taking that bet, either. Maybe you should ask Jacob Tricher?"

Johnson rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I would enjoy taking that ass's money," he mused. "I wonder what sort of odds he'd give me..."

"Well, good luck with that. I need to get going, but I'll be back later," Cindy said as she turned and began walking away. Over her shoulder she called, "And have a good day."

"You, too, ma'am," Johnson called back, still thinking about how to best fleece Tricher.

[hr][/hr]

"Hm," Taylor thought aloud as she continued poking at the Owners section. "I guess it would be nice to have siblings." Clicking on the option, she blinked as more information was revealed. "Let's see. A genetic comparison search of your world of origin indicates you do not have any eligible siblings, due to this, it will be necessary for the siblings to be produced by taking one or more samples of source DNA and modifying them as necessary. I can choose what sex they'll be… that sounds a bit skeevy, but I think I'd prefer sisters… Alright, there's an option for 'preferences, but not mandatory,' good." Clicking on the option, she continued through the information presented.

"While siblings are not considered contestants, they are still eligible for additional rewards and modifications, provided they also accrue enough credits to pay for said rewards. To this end, the primary contestant can select any punishments, modifications, or entertainment choices they wish for their siblings. After that, the siblings will be allowed to select any other modifications, owners, punishments, and/or entertainment options they wish, provided they maintain a positive balance of credits. Due to how they are created, any siblings will be considered to have New Body, Mind Wipe, and Tabula Rasa body modifications and will be granted an additional forty credits as payment for taking part in your show. As such, they will begin with a balance of one hundred five credits under the current contract. Any additional options taken at this point will be applied to this balance."

Unsure of what one of the options meant, Taylor prodded it contemplatively, only to be surprised when Tabula Rasa grew a text box. According to it, the option would provide the siblings with all the skills expected of children their chosen age and would also include memories and knowledge to suit what the average child would know about their sibling. It was intended to help foster a feeling of familiarity and family bonding.

"That's helpful," Taylor opined. "At least they'll feel like family, or something. Now, what do I want to make sure they have?" Thinking about it for only a moment, she came up with the obvious answer. "They need gills, a strong immune system, and repairbots, just to be somewhat safe back home. And I don't want them to die of old age on me, so the same ageless set up I have would be good. I'd pick the easy pregnancy and healthy babies options for them, but I'm not sure they'll be girls, and that would just waste credits if one or both of them is a boy." Thinking a bit more, she added, "And I should probably make sure they get some education out of this." After scrolling through all the options again, she grumbled, "I kind of want to also give them the chastity punishment and the sleep control chip, but that'd probably be mean." After a few more moments of serious thought, she sighed and gave in to practicality, "I should probably get all of us cell phones so we can keep in contact properly, even if I know Dad won't like it. And I probably need to get them set up with proper identification, too."

Sighing heavily, she clicked the button to tentatively confirm her selections. She could always go back and change them later, but this would allow the sibling design process to continue. It took a few second for the choices to compile, but when it finished, she read, "With your choices, under the current contract, your siblings will each start with thirty-eight credits that can be spent on additional modifications, entertainment options, or rewards."

Taylor nodded to herself. "That should keep them at least reasonably safe. I'll leave everything else up to them, though."

Returning to the block of text, she continued reading, "Because siblings are not contestants, they will not be restricted in food, drink, or clothing options other than any they choose, but will otherwise be able to use anything available in the hotel room, apartment, or other lodgings. However, should nothing be available and they do not pick an option, they will go without."

Taylor stared at the line for a minute before noting, "I guess it's a good thing I signed up for an apartment with a kitchen and will be getting paid for work throughout the year." Sighing, she clicked to the next section and continued filling out more forms. "Hopefully they'll be told what they're working with and are given proper help, so they can get the most out of this they can."

[hr][/hr]

"Excuse me," Cindy called into the back room as she stood at the meat counter of the closest grocery store. "I could use some help, please."

A large bald man strode out of the back, wiping his hands on his slightly blood splattered apron. "What can I do for you, miss?" he asked.

"I have something of an odd request," Cindy explained. "Can I have some of your scraps?"

"Sorry, miss, we can't sell those," he said. "Company policy. It wouldn't be hygienic."

"That's kind of the point," Cindy replied. "I'm looking for a large supply of maggots."

"Then you've come to the wrong place," the butcher said firmly. "We keep this place clean, and I won't have you saying otherwise."

"I'm not saying anything is dirty!" Cindy protested. "I'm just looking to get a good supply of maggots for someone."

"And I said you won't find them here. Now either buy something sensible or get lost."

"Look, I work for Slut Life, and - " Cindy began before being cut off.

"Then I'm definitely not giving you any scraps, and don't go thinking you'll get away with slandering our good name either," the butcher angrily said. "Now get out of here before I call for security."

Cindy sighed. "Fine, I'm leaving." It wasn't worth getting into a fight over it, especially when there were other places to look. "See if I shop here again." Stomping out of the door, she decided to try a different store.

[hr][/hr]

Taylor was trying to decide between several of the punishments, specifically between the corset piercing and the wooden horse. Both options took the same amount of time, but she wasn't sure she was comfortable with the idea of sitting on a thin beam for a full four hours. She was just finishing up watching a girl go through the piercing and was about to watch one on a wooden horse, both girls without the masochism mods, so she could tell how much it _should_ hurt, when the ant she had standing guard at the portal started moving with strides far too long to belong to Cindy. "Hello?" she called while turning off the television. She could continue her research later.

A large man walked into the room, holding a large case in one hand. "Hello, Miss Hebert," he said, smiling widely. "I'm Sergeant Richard Johnson, and I'm one of your guards."

"You don't go by Dick?" Taylor asked before she could stop herself.

"You'd think so," he said with good humor. "But, no. We have to deal with enough dicks in this profession without dealing with another one." Hoisting up the case, he added, "I'm here to show you one of my favorite old guns." Setting the cased down, he flipped the catches and opened it to reveal a long rifle nestled in foam cutouts.

"That's the Arctic Warfare Magnum, right?" Taylor asked, fairly sure she was correct.

"Good eye," Johnson complimented her. "It's actually the Super Magnum, so it's chambered for the .388 Lapua Magnum. I take it you've been studying the magazines we gave you?"

"Yeah," Taylor replied. "I need to know what I'm doing, right?"

"You'd be surprised," the guard grunted. "Most magical girls don't know much more about real guns than 'point the opening at the bad guy and pull the trigger.' Sure, it lets them have 'cuter' guns, and most of what they shoot is magic, anyway, but it's insulting, damn it!"

Taylor nodded. "I can see that." Gesturing at the case, she asked, "Why only the one gun? No one else wanted to show off their favorites?"

Johnson chuckled. "No, nothing like that. We thought we'd start with the ones that would work best at range, and I'm one of the company's expert sharpshooters, so I have this with me in case things get out of hand and I can't use one of our more modern weapons. Sure, handguns can be nice, but they really suffer at long range. This rifle has confirmed kills out to over a mile, so that won't be a problem, and with some of your magic tricks, you shouldn't have too many issues at shorter ranges, either."

Looking over the rifle, Taylor asked, "Wouldn't one of the machine guns be better?"

"In conventional combat? Maybe," Johnson replied, "but magical girls tend to swarm their targets, so the added accuracy is definitely an advantage. Besides, one well placed bullet usually does the job better than a spray of them."

Taylor nodded in understanding. "Yeah, hitting my allies would be bad. Unless I want to hit them, in which case, missing would be bad."

"Why the hell would you want to shoot your comrades?" Johnson demanded.

"Two words," Taylor said with a smirk. "Healing bullets."

Johnson paused for a moment before breaking out into a loud guffaw of laughter. "Oh, that'll be hilarious," he opined once he'd calmed down some. "Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'friendly fire.'" Shaking his head in mirth, he asked, "So, ready to learn how to take apart, clean, and reassemble one of these?"

"Sure," Taylor replied cheerfully. "The better I know how it goes together and works, the more likely it'll be I can make a working one later, right?"

"Sounds reasonable to me," Johnson agreed before beginning to show Taylor the ins and outs of the weapon.

[hr][/hr]

"It took me far too long," Cindy began as she walked into the main room, where Taylor was continuing to sort through the last of the details for her contract, "but I think I found something that'll work." Plopping down in a chair, she added, "Did you know that most places will refuse to sell you their meat scraps? Even after I told them I only wanted the scraps for maggots?"

Taylor blinked and turned away from the screen. "I'm not sure why you find that so surprising," she replied. "Most places wouldn't want you to think they're unsanitary, after all. So, if they wouldn't sell you their meat, what did you find?"

"Well, even though we don't have any shortage of food or farming space and can easily replicate food if necessary, some people have gotten it into their heads that crickets are the best source of protein ever," Cindy explained. "So, I figured we could see if a nutrition drink made from crickets might work. It should have all the nutrients the spiders need while being easy to digest, right? And since you'll be controlling them, we won't even have to worry about their instincts telling them it's not food because it's not hopping around."

After thinking it over for a moment, Taylor agreed, "That sounds like it could work, and would probably be easier than maintaining a population of useless bugs to serve as food. I'll have a few ants try it first, though." A couple of ants made their way over from their tank and waited.

"Good idea," Cindy said. "We wouldn't want to hurt your spiders if this doesn't work." Reaching into her bag, she retrieved the bottle of Jiminy Juice brand All Natural Cricket Crush, Original Flavor. She poured a small measure into the cap and placed it on the floor.

The ants quickly swarmed the bottle cap, sampling the concoction. "Well, it seems fine," Taylor decided after a few minutes. "I'll have my orb weaver try next."

"You haven't named her yet?" Cindy asked.

Taylor gave the older woman a flat look. "I'm planning on having a massive swarm, and I'll be using them to fight," she stated. "Naming them is probably a bad idea when they could die at any moment, right?"

Cindy shrugged. "I guess that makes sense, but I thought you might want to keep some of your more special bugs out of the fights, like the ones you'll be using to make costumes and clothing with."

"I hadn't thought of that," Taylor admitted. "I'll think it over. But for now, I'd like to finish the contract. I think I have it about right, but I'd like you to take a look at it for me. Make sure I didn't sign up for anything really stupid." Even as she pushed the computer over to Cindy, Taylor was directing her spider to the bottle cap. It was a bit awkward figuring out the best way to have her feed, but once she was situated, there weren't any issues.

"I see you selected Latex Lounge as an apartment option," Cindy noted. "Was that to also get a few more rooms added on?"

"Pretty much," Taylor agreed. "Why? Is it a bad option?"

"It's not one I would pick," Cindy replied. "Basically, your apartment would be set up to act as the reception area for a latex bondage club. The customers usually respect personal belongings, but personal space? Not so much."

"Definitely not worth the extra rooms," Taylor decided.

"Besides," Cindy added, "even if you are planning on using rooms for your insects and crafting things, do you really need six empty rooms? That's more floor space than a lot of houses have."

Taylor shrugged. "I guess you're right, that is a bit much. Still, I didn't think of anything else I would want, and it sounded useful. Besides, I thought it meant that the living room would be decked out in latex instead of fabric on the couches and stuff. That wouldn't be too bad, right?"

"You have obviously never dealt with latex," Cindy said. "Just the constant squeaking that could produce would drive me crazy within a month."

"I hadn't thought of that," Taylor admitted. "See anything else I might regret?"

"Not really," Cindy replied. "I see you followed my advice about having flexible holes, though I have a suggestion. Adding Tight Fit and Elastic Tongue balances out and can be a lot of fun."

"Is there an advantage to taking Tight Fit I don't know about?" Taylor asked. "Because I can't see why I'd care about having a long tongue."

"Having a long tongue is great," Cindy insisted. "And having a tighter fit makes the ride that much more intense. Especially with the masochist mods."

Taylor shook her head. "No, I think I'll still pass. It doesn't sound helpful at all."

"Alright, that's up to you," Cindy replied. "That's also about the last of the things I can suggest, other than taking a longer run or some mandatory injections of the experimental drugs to possibly drop a few of your punishments and get out of a few longer days with your owners."

"Not going to happen," Taylor said seriously. "If I thought it'd be worth the extra work, I'd be going for the speed run."

"And I wouldn't blame you for that," Cindy replied. "That said, making up the extra fifty credits it costs would take a lot of effort or would greatly reduce your reward."

"That's what I was thinking," Taylor agreed. "Since I'm going to be going back to the same time either way, there's not much point worrying about an extra six months. An extra four years is a bit too much, though."

"That's reasonable. We'll keep it to the standard run." Cindy looked over the contract again before asking, "Now, you're sure you're happy with everything as it is? This is your last chance to make any changes before it's finalized."

"I wouldn't say I'm happy with it," Taylor replied, "what with Tricher tricking me into it and all, but I guess I'm set."

"We're hoping to take care of that issue shortly," Cindy reminded her. "Keep that in mind. I find envisioning him covered with bees helps."

Taylor grinned as she thought of the man getting swarmed. "True, that does make me feel better, even if I'll probably never do it. Even if my bees are harmless."

"You're a better person than me, then," Cindy said. "I'm not sure what I would do in your situation, but he wouldn't enjoy it." Standing, she continued, "Anyway, I need to turn your contract in and get the preparations started. As a bright side, we should be able to get you out of here pretty soon."

"Thanks. The view is great, but I'm beginning to miss seeing the sky."

Cindy made her way to the computer before sighing and turning around. "Look, Taylor, it goes against all of my training, but I need to level with you."

"What's up?" Taylor asked worriedly.

"I don't know who drew up your initial contract, but it was a lot different than the one I used. Hell, it's different than most of the ones I've seen before," the redhead admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Taylor asked, hurt by the revelation.

Cindy sucked in a breath and smoothed her hair in a nervous gesture. "The company likes trying new contracts all the time. It keeps things fresh, with the audience never quite sure what they're going to get, so I didn't really register what was missing until just recently, especially since I've never had anyone pick the specific option before."

"What is it?" Taylor asked, now somewhat worried.

"Usually, New Game+, as I usually see it, has a sub option," Cindy began, "called New Game++, that lets you keep your memories. If you want, I could try to make a stink with the higher ups. We could probably get you sent back to when you started, while keeping your memories, without having to have sex at all."

Taylor had to admit that the option was tempting. However… "Would I still be able to be a recruiter?" Taylor asked. "Or would this let Tricher continue fucking people over on Earth Bet?"

Cindy winced. "Probably the latter," she admitted. "Most of the staff here are part of the secret society, even if it _is_ at a low level, so I'm not sure they'd be interested in having you working for us as a recruiter if you're not part of it."

Taylor thought for a moment before replying. "Fuck it."

"Sorry, what?" Cindy asked in confusion.

"I said fuck that," Taylor said. "I'm not letting that asshole mess with anyone else if I can help it. I'll keep my contract the way it is, but thanks for telling me."

Cindy smiled. "No problem. If I hadn't, I don't think I would have been able to sleep well for a while."

"Only for a while?" Taylor asked.

"No matter how guilty you feel, you'll get over it with enough time or therapy," Cindy replied. "And I have plenty of both." Turning back to her computer, she printed out three copies of the contract and handed them over along with a pen.

Taylor took the first stack of papers and the pen and looked at the contract for a moment. "You know, I do have one more question. How can I legally sign this? Or the other contract, for that matter. I'm not a legal adult."

"You're at least thirteen," Cindy replied. "That's the age people can legally sign contracts without parental consent, which admittedly does make things a bit odd for contestants who decide to become somewhere between ten and twelve."

Taylor blinked. "Then what does that mean for my siblings?"

"For the purposes of signing the initial contract with Slut Life, they are legally considered to have their parent's consent," Cindy explained. "There's a little notice about it in your contract under the sibling section."

"And on that note," Taylor said with finality, "I think I'm going to read this thing thoroughly before I sign it."

"Good idea," Cindy agreed. "There shouldn't be anything strange or unexpected in there, but it's always good to be sure. Just make sure you initial each option and sign at the bottom of each page of each copy. One goes to our records department, one is sent to Public Relations, and you get to keep the last copy. We'll also be scanning each page into the computer as you sign them."

"That seems a bit much," Taylor said as she began reading through the first page. "Any reason for it?"

"It's not strictly a requirement, and we could use an electronic signature if we wanted," Cindy began, "but we've had issues of tampering before at other branches, so we want to be sure you're signing up for what you actually agreed to."

Taylor paused in her reading for a moment to stare at Cindy in horror. After a moment, she muttered, "I'm going to be reading these even more thoroughly now, thanks."

[hr][/hr]

"What do you have for me today?" Bob Ross asked as Cindy entered his office.

"I just turned in Taylor's contract," Cindy answered. "The confirmation should be in your email already."

"Good, good," he said, turning to his computer to check his email. "How's she taking everything?"

"Better than I expected," Cindy remarked, shaking her head and slumping in her chair. "She's either more resilient than we thought, is starved enough for affection that signing up is starting to appeal to her despite her initial reaction, or she's planning on trying to fuck us over."

"Do you think that's likely?" Ross asked in concern. While Slut Life was virtually unassailable, there were a few things that could possibly turn public sentiment against them. The less scrupulous executives could, and would, coerce such a contestant to take the Mind Wipe option, which would remove many of those concerns. He preferred other methods, but if the contract was already submitted, there would only be so much influence he could exert. Hell, had it not been for Cindy's idea to recruit Miss Hebert and orders from on high, he may have suggested running her through a very short, very boring run with no significant reward. Three million dollars would have at least helped her financial situation. And that was assuming they didn't just send her home instead, disregarding the invalid contract Tricher had gotten her to sign.

Cindy shook her head in negation. "I didn't get any of the passive aggressiveness you'd expect from a truly unwilling contestant. She also doesn't cross me as a good enough of an actor to keep up a cheerful facade this long. I think she stopped herself from thinking about being forced into it once she put it into terms of preparing to be a hero. I'm not sure that level of compartmentalization is healthy, but I'm also hoping she'll talk to one of our shrinks."

"That's up to her, of course," Ross replied, "but I do agree. Many of our contestants could use some therapy. It goes with the territory, unfortunately."

The two sat in a somewhat awkward silence for a moment before Cindy asked, "So, what's next?"

Ross thought for a moment and read through the selections Taylor had chosen before continuing. "Part of that will be up to the scientists. If their plans succeed, Taylor will be moved off of Earth and things will progress as normal. If they don't, we'll need to adjust things for her to stay here. Either way, they can still start working on her body modifications, siblings, and alert the rest of her owners that they've been selected. Marketing will also need to start running teasers for her run, and we still need to get the magical girls to empower her as well. All in all, nothing out of the ordinary beyond moving her, but a lot of it. Regardless, we should have her show started within the month."

"Good," Cindy replied. "The wait between signing the contract and starting was the worst for me."

"Ah," Ross said knowingly, "but you didn't have a large number of insects to keep you company."

[hr][/hr]

End of Arc 1: Recruitment.

I'm going to be slowing down my update schedule to roughly every other week. My buffer has dwindled to five chapters, and I'd like to give it a chance to recover. Thanks for sticking around, and next up is the start of Arc 2: Preparation.

A couple of people have asked to see the completed CYOA for Taylor. As a note, this may contain spoilers for future plot points and such. If you don't want to see it, stop reading here. Again, please note that this CYOA was built using the interactive version based off of Slut Life Version 3.0.3. This is not the most current version available. It is also not the version I will be using in future, as I have put considerable effort into modifying the original versions for my own purposes.

* * *

Taylor Hebert SL CYOA

Difficulty: Easy (Bribe from the Scientists)

Body Modification:

New Body:

Age: 15

Height: 5'8"

Face: Girly

Chest: B-cup

Ass: Apple

Genitals: Fertile Vagina

Penis Size: N/A

Penis Girth: N/A

Testicle Size: N/A

Hair Length: 24"

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Skin Color: Pale/White

Body Type: Athletic

Voice: Feminine

Breasts: One Pair

Primary Genitalia: Fertile Vagina

Hair Removal: We'll permanently remove any hair on your body that you don't want.

Masochist: You now feel pleasure from pain.

Manual Control: You can choose whether or not you feel pleasure from pain.

Sensitive Body: Your entire body is now extra sensitive.

Erogenous Body: Your entire body is now an erogenous zone.

Right Moment: Your body's erogenous zones will only be 'active' when you're horny.

Magic Hair: Your body will maintain a constant length for your hair (on your head).

Refractory Period: You no longer have to deal with a refractory period (that is, you'll be able to cum multiple times in a row in a short period of time.)

Menstruation Control: You no longer have to deal with menstruation or it's effects.

Gag Reflex: Your gag reflex is removed.

Flexible Holes: Makes all of your holes much more flexible than they would be naturally. Also increases natural lubrication.

Open Cervix: Your womb can be entered with little effort.

Always Perky: You no longer need to wear a bra.

Easy Pregnancy: Makes your pregnancies much more bearable.

Healthy Babies: Your babies will be strong and healthy.

Flexible Body: Your body is much more flexible. Good for yoga and doing splits.

Reduced Sleep: Instead of 8 hours, your body can easily work with only 4 hours of sleep.

Perfect Metabolism: Maintaining muscle tone/body condition is trivial, however you must consume at least 2,300 calories a day.

Optimized Digestion D: You no longer need to defecate.

Optimized Digestion U: You no longer need to urinate

Cleanliness: You no longer need to shower/bathe. Also includes some internal parts, such as teeth.

Perfect Homeostasis: Your body will maintain its internal temperature perfectly, meaning you no longer need to wear clothes, even in sub-zero temperatures.

Timeless: You will stop aging once you reach between 24-26 years old.

Infinite Telomeres: You no longer age at all.

Hourglass: You can control your age at will. This includes the ability to, for example, revert to your teenage years and grow into an adult again.

Repairbots: Special nanobots will be injected into your body. They are capable of repairing minor wounds and damage, but cannot do anything for major wounds (e.g. a cut-off limb).

Hyper-Immune System: Your body can quickly and effectively fight poisons, toxins, diseases, and other dangerous conditions.

Genetic Cleansing: Your DNA will be 'cleaned' to remove any possible genetic imperfections (e.g. genetic diseases.)

Housing:

Apartment: A small apartment with a bedroom and a bathroom.

Deluxe Apartment: Your apartment will be upgraded to approximately twice the original size.

Deluxe Bedroom: Your bedroom will be upgraded to include a king-size bed, a closet, and a full dresser with a mirror.

3/3 Selected.

Walk-In Closet: a large walk-in closet for all of your clothes.

Deluxe Bathroom: An upgraded bathroom with more space to store your hygiene products. Your toilet will also be upgraded to include a built-in bidet. No more wiping!

Walk-In Shower: Your bathroom will be upgraded to include a walk-in shower with full-body spray, in addition to your bathtub.

Luxury Bathtub: Your bathtub will receive a jacuzzi upgrade.

Kitchen: A standard kitchen with plenty of storage and counter space. Comes with a fridge, stove, and microwave. You must purchase food/additional appliances.

Living Room: A separate room to spend your time in. Comes with a sectional sofa, a table, a wall-mounted television, and a nice view.

Balcony: A small balcony for looking at the view from your room. Can be attached to either your bedroom or your living room.

Empty Room: An empty room. Useful if you need somewhere to store something bulky.

3 selected.

Shared Amenities:

Shared Amenities: Includes access to all listed amenities: Arcade, ball pit, bath house, brothel, convenience store, gym, indoor pool, library, mess hall, movie theater, night club, outdoor garden, recording studio, recreational room, tavern.

Clothing:

Plain Closet: A decent selection of plain, no frills outfits.

Walking Billboard: At least one piece of visible clothing you wear must have a Slut Life logo, a logo from one of its partners (Whores R Us, Sex Toys Ltd., etc.), or something lewd.

Health/Hygiene:

Hygiene Essentials: A basic selection of body care products and make-up. Nothing fancy.

Advanced Health Care: All contestants receive basic health care. However, you can purchase an upgraded health care package. You will receive the best health care money can buy.

Food:

Primary Food:

Baby Food: Your diet will consist of mushy food from a jar. If you wish, someone will feed you.

Additional Food:

Drink Bar: You will have access to an unlimited supply of (non-alcoholic) drinks you want.

Roommates:

Custom Sexbot: A standard sexbot, made to your exact specifications. Over time, they will learn to adapt to your liking. Additionally, you can choose to keep them afterwards.

Extended Functionality: Your sexbot will use your AI to become useful for everyday tasks.

Owner: (Velma Platt) Cutie (See below)

Owner: Futanari (submissive)(See below)

Owner: Sibling 1(See below)

Owner: Sibling 2(See below)

Owner: (Swanhilde) Succubus(See below) (She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday)

Neighbors:

Marcus: A personal trainer who sincerely wants to help yo get fit. He'll invite you to workout sessions, along with other contestants, and even some of your owners. You should expect some competition from the others.

Jenny and Martha: A former contestant and her owner who decided to take things kinda monogamous after the show. They mainly talk about their past experiences, their latest sessions, and things they'd like to try.

Crystal: Likes to make lots of cute cosplay outfits. Will often ask (beg) you to model for her.

Henry: An alchemist. Needs your fluids for, uh, 'reasons.' Will hook you up with high-quality potions as payment.

Tanya: A hotdog vendor that wants free advertising from the show. She'll give you free, high quality sausages, but you're responsible for getting them on air. Mustard probably won't be enough.

Entertainment:

Cell Phone: A standard smartphone. Comes with a basic processor, basic communications (WiFi + 3G), a camera, 16 GB of storage, a microSD slot, and an 8000mAh battery. Also includes a pair of headphones and unlimited data. You may keep it after the year is up.

4G LTE Radio: Support of 4G LTE on all major networks

FTL Communications: Can send and receive FTL Communications

Porn: A selection of porn magazines and DVDs. Also removes the porn blocker from all your devices.

Viewer's Choice Porn: Restricts porn across devices to a weekly selection chosen by viewers.

Education: Using state-of-the-art technology, you can learn up to three year's worth of information on up to three subjects in just one year. Topics may not be overly broad.

Slut Life Legal

Making Fabric and Clothing Design and Construction

Computer Science (unless a better idea comes up quickly)

Personal AI: A personal AI program. Its personality can be modified at any time. It is also capable of 'hopping' between devices that you own.

Own Will: Your personal AI will have a much stronger will/personality and is not guaranteed to listen to your commands. However, it will act in more 'human' ways. Depending on its personality settings, you may expect more banter/tricks. Cannot disable or change the AI's personality after initial setup without a complete reset.

Computer: A mid-end computer with fast, unlimited internet access. You could get in trouble for doing illegal things, but since you're on another planet, you don't really have to worry about draconian laws on other planets.

Webcam: A webcam for you to provide 'private' shows for your fans. Must cam for at least 1 hour each week.

Laptop: In case you wanted a laptop instead of a desktop for some reason.

Owners:

Cutie: A sweet, lively girl that just wants to have fun with others. Typical activities include shopping, visiting amusement parks, and other activities she likes.

Funtime: Extra four hours/day with this owner.

As roommate.

Futanari: A cute, submissive futa girl. She just wants somebody to love her.

Funtime: Extra four hours/day with this owner.

As roommate.

Slime Girl: A friendly, gel-like girl that likes to 'play' with others. Please note that her definition of 'play' involves invading all of your holes with her body.

Siblings: Your two sisters and/or brothers will have fun with you. What's that, you didn't have any siblings? Well, we may have taken a sample of your DNA after your body was modified and used that, so you do now.

Funtime: Extra four hours/day with this owner.

As roommate.

Mad Scientist: Somebody had to make the drugs and nanomachines. You'll be their number one test subject, and they have all kinds of plans for what to try next. Don't worry: they're contractually obligated to put you back to normal. Eventually.

Funtime: Extra four hours/day with this owner.

Succubus/Incubus: A literal sex demon. They are well versed in making people cum, and will have you begging for more when they're done.

Funtime: Extra four hours/day with this owner.

As roommate.

Dragon: A large (in more ways than one) male dragon. It'll hurt at first, but you'll get used to it.

Punishments

Meet 'n Greet: Twice a year, you will be required to go on a week long tour to have a meet and greet with your fans.

Raffle: You will be required to service a lucky fan who one a raffle.

Spanking: If the weekly rating drops below a certain point, you will be spanked.

Buttplug: You must wear a butt plug at all times. It will only be removed if you need to use the bathroom.

Double-Dildo Underwear: You will be forced to wear latex underwear with two inflatable dildos attached to it, one for each hole. It will be taken off if you need to do your business.

Vibrator: You will be required to wear a vibrator at all times. It will either be in your vagina or attached near the top of your penis(es) (or in both locations, if you have both). All of your owners will receive a remote control to control them.

Vibrators Everywhere: Vibrators will be placed in/on certain areas, including, but not limited to: asshole, clit, nipples, vagina, penis(es). The following punishments will also include vibrators: Double Dildo Underwear, Urethral Play, Chastity, and Buttplug.

Urethral Play: Like the buttplug, your urethra will be plugged at all times. It will only be removed if you need to use the bathroom.

Public Humiliation: Once a week, you will be stripped naked and placed on display for four hours.

Corset Piercing: Once a week, you will be put in a corset piercing for four hours.

Water Chamber: Once a week, you will be stripped naked and put into a sealed tank filled with water for four hours. You'll be testing out our new genetic modification to give humans gills; hopefully they work. Oh, by the way, we gave you gills.

Breast Expansion: The size of your breasts will be controlled by your owners.

Manual Control: We'll give you a remote control to control your breast size.

Tentacles: A portal will appear in your room to a tentacle pit. You'll probably want to avoid it, unless you want to get trapped for several hours (though your owners may not appreciate it).

Climax Control: A special chip will be implanted into you to prevent you from being able to cum. As a side effect, when you do climax, all previous climaxes will come 'crashing down' on you at once. All of your owners will receive a remote control that they can use to allow you to climax.

Edging: The edging you experience will be stronger and last longer depending on how long it has been since you came.

Manual Control: We will give you a remote control for the chip.

Jobs:

Brothel Cleaner: You will be cleaning the brothel instead. Marginally more exciting than cleaning rooms.

Part time.

Magical Girl: You get to be a cute magical girl! Your age must be less than 25. Must not be a biological male.

Job Modifiers:

Cash Money: You may spend the money from the jobs you receive during the show.

Raise: All salaries are doubled.

Donate: 30% of your salary is donated to charity.

Adjustments I:

(None Taken)

Adjustments II:

Safeword: You will be allowed to select a safeword. Be careful, if you overuse it you will be prohibited from using it.

Rewards:

"Was it all a dream?": At the end of the show, you will be sent back to before you started. You won't remember being a contestant, but you will keep your new body. You also receive $3,000,000.

Secret Society Membership: You will gain a lifetime membership to a secret society that oversees the entire multiverse. This is probably the most control you'll ever have in your life. You may also choose two other rewards for free.

New Home: After the show, you will be able to keep your apartment and all your furnishings, entertainment, and roommates. In exchange, your new home will be here. You can choose to continue the punishments/owners/jobs if you wish. You also receive $800,000.


	14. Preparation 2:1

Preparation 2.1

[hr][/hr]

Director Patience Warner sat at the head of the table, surveying those before her. "Today begins a supremely great work," she declared grandly. "Like our predecessors, Einstein, Archimedes, West, and Hawking, we will be broaching uncharted territory. Before us stands an entirely unexplored field of study, ripe for SCIENCE!"

The others around the table cheered. After the initial upset of the Mad Scientist selection meeting, things had calmed down. Of the ten initially interested scientists, only six remained. The others had found other projects they were better suited to or more interested in. Only these five, led by Director Warner remained.

"True," Professor Daniel Akkeman agreed. "It has been quite some time since we last had such an opportunity."

"Yes, but that leads to the first major question," Doctor Hugo Beutal began. "Where should we start?"

"That should be fairly obvious," Major Clemency Holst replied. "First we need to see about getting her off of Earth and to Babnockorty."

"I believe Captain Andreyasn volunteered his services in transporting Miss Hebert and her computer," Janitor Albert Schwaz commented. "Provided the conditions on one of the planet's alternates is suitable, I don't think we should have any difficulties."

"That is assuming the computer doesn't need to be in close proximity to work," Analyst Borislav Cuypers added. "It would be a shame to get her off of Earth only to have her drop dead when the computer decides to stop working. Computer Science may be one of my specialties, but I'm not confident I wouldn't miss anything terminal."

"And we thank you for your honest assessment of your skills," Director Warner said. "Fortunately, Professor Farnsworth has given me the contact information for an individual he claims has the skills we need."

Leaning forward, Analyst Cuypers asked, "And who is this individual? Perhaps I've heard of them?"

Director Warner winced, and answered, "He calls himself Hackerman."

"I'm going to ignore his atrocious naming tendencies and ask the important question," Major Holst decided. "Is he good enough?"

"According to Farnsworth," Director Warner began, "Hackerman managed to hack his way into the future, using a computer with 256 kilobytes of RAM and a 7.66 megahertz processor."

"That's inconceivable!" Cuypers exclaimed. "Computing power hasn't been that low since the nineteen nineties!"

"Yes," Warner said dryly. "I do believe that was the point." Looking around the table, she added, "He will, of course, be using much more powerful equipment this time. Now, he should be arriving within the next day or two, so that we may begin. Captain Andreyasn is on call, and, barring any emergencies on his end, will be available with an hour's notice." She looked around the table before concluding, "Once we have her situated, I want each of you to come up with topics to test. We only have her for four hundred and forty four hours once the show starts, so make sure we have something set up to monitor her between sessions or that can easily be done before she begins the show. We'll meet again once Hackerman has done what he can to discuss our options. Dismissed."

[hr][/hr]

"Ready to get out of here?" Cindy asked as she and Taylor stood before the portal.

"Yes," Taylor replied emphatically. "I can't wait to see the sky again or feel a fresh breeze."

"It is a bit cramped up here," Cindy agreed.

"I'm a bit worried about all the bugs, though," Taylor admitted, some nervousness showing through.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Cindy said. "The orb weaver is happy under your bed, the crickets are all in their box, the millipede's back in its box, the bee hive has its tub sealed, and the ant enclosure has its lid on, right?"

"Yeah," Taylor said, "and I have my spider eggs with me, just in case. But I meant I'm worried about all of the bugs out there." She gestured to the portal. "I mean, there's going to several orders of magnitude difference in the number of bugs, right? What happens if I can't handle it?"

Cindy nodded in understanding. "That's a valid concern. If that happens, I'll get some of the guards to help me carry you back up here and we'll keep working on your capacity. Worst case? We'll have to tranquilize you for a little bit to bring you back up here until you recover. I think you'll be fine, though."

"If you say so," Taylor said doubtfully.

"You've gone from what? A single spider to more than a thousand insects in less than a week?" Cindy asked.

"Around there," Taylor agreed, figuring that the redhead didn't care about the exact number.

"Right," Cindy continued firmly. "This won't be any different from when I brought the ant colony. Now, let's get going." Taking hold of Taylor's arm, she guided her through the portal.

"Woah!" Taylor exclaimed as she crossed the threshold and lost her equilibrium. Cindy caught her before she could fall, and she soon had her bearings back. "That was weird," she opined.

"Maybe, but you seem to be fine," Cindy pointed out. "What happened?"

"The loss of all my insects and feeling so many more new ones all at once was really disorienting," Taylor explained. "I don't think it'd be as bad if I had more insects with me." Gesturing to the pocket holding her egg sack, she added, "I think having the eggs on me helped ground me somewhat, but they don't really have much presence yet, so it doesn't help that much."

Cindy considered that for a moment before coming to a decision. "We're definitely going to have you bring some more bugs back with you when we leave. See if that helps any."

"Right," Taylor agreed. Looking around, she asked, "So, now what? I mean, I appreciate being out in the real world again, but what are we out here to do?"

"I can answer that," Richard Johnson replied as he strode up to them. "Good to see you again, Taylor."

"Nice to see you, too, Richard," Taylor said with a smile. "What's up?"

"Well," he began, "since you're planning on taking up a proper gun, I figured you should actually learn how to shoot it before you try to magic one up."

"Luckily, my boss agreed," Cindy added, "so he scheduled some time on the range for you."

Giving the redhead a shrewd look, she asked, "This is going to be recorded and added to the show so that everyone can laugh at my failures, right?"

"I wouldn't put it like that," Cindy hedged, "but that isn't an entirely inaccurate assessment."

Clapping a hand onto Taylor's shoulder, Johnson said, "Don't worry too much. We're not letting you use the big guns right away. We'll start you off simple, with a .22 and work our way up from there."

"That's a kid's gun, right?" Taylor asked.

"Not quite, though it is a decent round for a child to start with, since it doesn't have much recoil," Johnson corrected. "But it's still a perfectly suitable hunting rifle for small game, as it won't render a rabbit to flinders."

"Oh, that makes sense, then," Taylor replied with a nod. "Think I can try out some of the hand guns as well?"

"I don't see why not," Johnson agreed with a large grin. "It's always good to have a hold out weapon, after all. Hell, maybe we should look into getting you some practice in with some knife work as well."

Cindy sighed as she followed the two towards the range. "I don't know who's going to love her more," she groaned quietly. "The military types or the self defense gurus."

[hr][/hr]

Jacob Tricher stood at the end of a table in the sole spot of light in the room, waiting for the meeting to start. After a solid minute passed, he sighed and asked, "Are we going to have this meeting or not?"

A light above the furthest chair around the table flicked on. Seated there was a heavyset man with a visor strapped across his face. "The meeting will commence," he intoned.

Jacob rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Really, Uncle?" he asked. "Must we do this every time?"

"The protocols must be observed," a thin man with a rather large nose exclaimed as the lights above the other six members of the council clicked on.

"That is correct," Jacob's uncle, the chairman of the committee agreed. "And you should refer to me accordingly."

"You've all seen too much anime," Jacob opined under his breath. "Fine, then, 'Chairman Keel,' may we proceed?" Under his breath, he muttered, "Seriously too much anime. Your last name isn't even Keel. I've met a few of the bastards, and I don't know why you'd want to be compared to one of him."

"We can hear you," another man commented idly.

"Your attitude toward protocol notwithstanding, we are ready to begin," 'Chairman Keel' decided. "What do you have to report?"

"As directed, I did the evil recruiter act with Taylor Hebert, and then proceeded to brag to Cindy Matos, one of Slut Life's former contestants who was convinced to sign on with the company. She has filed an ethics violation report against me for my behavior."

"Was it deserved?" the sole woman at the table asked.

"Considering I got her to sign it through emotional blackmail and without presenting her with any information about what she was signing up for?" Jacob asked rhetorically. "It was definitely deserved. That was a case of outright fraud, and I still feel disgusted for doing it, even with your assurances that it wouldn't be noticed and that it was necessary."

Tricher grimaced and continued, "That said, I can think of plenty of places where doing worse would have gotten me nothing more than a gently worded warning. With Ross, the only reason I haven't been fired is my connection to the Chairman, here. He's not happy about being stonewalled, but he knows bigger things are going on that he doesn't know about, so he didn't tell Miss Matos that the original contract was fraudulent. We're lucky he didn't, because she would have told Miss Hebert, even against orders, and that would have ruined all of your plans."

"There are more branches than you think that would not condone that behavior," the woman replied, "though I understand you haven't visited many of them."

Jacob shrugged. "I'll have to take your word for it." This had actually been one of his better assignments. All he had needed to do was act like an egotistical ass and use any number of tricks to reach and maintain an impressively high recruitment standard. Playing the jerk was definitely significantly less stressful than being one of the only halfway decent people in the department.

"And how did Miss Hebert take your manipulations?" another man around the table asked. Jacob had never bothered trying to learn any of their names, and they'd never made an effort to give them. Besides, based on his uncle, it was unlikely any name they provided would be their real one.

"About as you'd expect," Jacob replied. "It's a good thing she's under Ross's care, or she'd be a definite liability, and I'm not sure if a mind wipe would work correctly on her, assuming they somehow tricked her into signing up for it. It definitely could have ended badly for the company, especially if her abilities are as potent as her file claims." Shuddering slightly, he added, "It also makes me glad I met her on the quarantine station, rather than on the surface."

"And how has she reacted since?" 'Chairman Keel' asked.

Shaking his head in slight disbelief, Jacob replied, "I don't know how she did it, but Matos convinced her to sign up to be a recruiter, rather than take the easy path."

"A sympathetic ear is sometimes all you need," the woman replied. "I haven't had a chance to look over her contract. Did she pick anything particularly interesting?"

Jacob nodded and said, "As predicted, returning home was one of her driving motivations, and Matos presented a work around for the difficulties that the modified contracted caused which should suffice, though it would leave her on her own for a year before we could make use of her. Miss Hebert elected to take the Society Membership as well as both 'Was it all a Dream' and 'New Home' options. Applied correctly, she should be transported back to her hospital bed with all of her memories."

"That doesn't sound right," Jacob's uncle said worriedly. "What does 'Was it all a dream?' do?"

"As far as I can tell," Tricher explained, "it is a variation of New Game+, without providing the option to retain your memories."

"That's definitely not the standard procedure," the man with the nose commented. "We always allow contestants to keep their memories, if they choose to, even if they don't sign the final contract. Where there any other irregularities?"

Jacob shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I didn't look through all of the details of the contract itself, just the parts Miss Hebert selected."

"We will need to look into this more closely," 'Chairman Keel' stated. "Considering everything else we've done to the girl out of necessity, we should at least make sure she was given all of the options we had planned on giving her." Looking over the notes he had been taking, he added, "We will have to keep an eye on Miss Matos. She may become either an asset or a liability in the future." He looked to his left, where another man made a note in a folder before continuing, "Do you have anything else to report?"

"Yes, I do," Jacob replied. "Miss Hebert's primary motivation currently, beyond going home, is to be a hero. To this effect, she has signed up to be a magical girl."

"Which type?" the woman asked curiously.

"Emotional, Will-based, I think," Jacob replied. "If memory serves, she should be getting empowered as soon as they finish with her modifications."

The woman smirked. "That is definitely a good choice for her. It might even allow us to use her services sooner than we could otherwise, depending on what choices she makes. I'll need to speak with a few people about the possibilities."

"Do you think she'll make a good troubleshooter?" another of the men asked.

"Possibly," Jacob replied. "I'm not sure if she'd be the most diplomatic choice, but once she has some experience under her belt and a decent swarm on hand, she should be a force to be reckoned with."

"And she would be a good choice for dealing with any insect related issues," 'Chairman Keel' added. "Do you foresee any issues with utilizing her in this fashion?"

Jacob nodded again. "As far as I can tell, she has two main motivations. Getting home to her father and becoming a hero. While we can probably play on her being a hero in some situations, I doubt she would be interested until she has at least gotten back to her father."

"That is reasonable," the hook-nosed man said. "Everyone needs some amount of downtime to decompress and reconnect with those they care about occasionally."

"Yes," Jacob's uncle agreed. "It would be best to wait until after she returns home before calling on her for any specific tasks. Provided they don't also fall under her remit as a magical girl as well, of course."

"On that note," Jacob interjected, "I was wondering if I could go on a vacation after this. Playing the jerk is always tiring, especially when I need to keep it up for years to build my cover, and I'd rather not be around now that Taylor's got access to a decent swarm."

"That is a reasonable concern," Jacob's uncle acknowledged. "We only have a few more questions before the meeting is over. After that, we will see about the details of your vacation."

"That's fine," Jacob replied with a sigh of relief. "Alright, shoot."

"Do you believe that she will be suitable for the position we have in mind for her?" 'Keel' asked.

Jacob shrugged. "You know a lot more about her than I do," he said offhandedly. "Pretty much anyone on our side would help stabilize the clusterfuck in that corner of the multiverse. That said, once she knows what's at stake, I think she'll do whatever she can to help. At the very least, I doubt she can make things any worse. And that was before she decided to become a Determinator."

"What do you think of her chances of recruiting others?" the woman asked.

"If the reports I've read about her world are accurate," Jacob began, "she shouldn't have any trouble getting people to sign up, just to get the hell out of there. It'll be more interesting to see how many she can convince to come back when they're done."

"That is a fair point," Jacob's uncle agreed. "Since we have finished our questions, I suppose it is time to move to the next matter at hand. Dewey, what type of vacation are you looking for?"

"Damn it, Uncle Humperdinck," Jacob whined. "Do you really need to use my first name? You know I don't like it."

"It's the name your mother gave you, so it's the name I'm going to use," Humperdinck snapped. "Now, answer the question." Both men ignored the snickers from the others in the room.

"Fine, fine," Jacob said. "First, I don't want to be anywhere near Taylor once she's out and about. She's mad at me for a damned good reason, and I don't want to be covered in bees. I don't care if they're stingless. Leave the Nicolas Cage impersonations for somebody else."

"That seems reasonable," the thin man noted.

Another shadowy figure sniggered. "No, not the bees! Not the bees! They're in my eyes!"

Rolling his eyes, Jacob continued. "Hell, it doesn't even need to be a real vacation. I just want to be somewhere where I can act like a normal, decent guy instead of being the biggest asshole I can and actually do some good… without needing to fix anything about wherever I am."

"You could always sign up for a run of your own," the woman suggested. "As Miss Matos said, it may give you a certain amount of respectability among other recruiters and contestants."

"And prevent me from working undercover ever again," Jacob noted.

"Not necessarily," Humperdinck mused. "How do you feel about transhumanism?

[hr][/hr]

"That was fun!" Taylor declared as Cindy led her down the street.

Cindy shook her head. "I still don't know how you improved your aim so quickly."

"Oh, that was easy," Taylor replied. "All I needed to do was put two gnats on the gun and have another where I wanted to shoot. Then all I needed to do was line up all three and I could hit wherever I wanted, or at least close to it. Richard said my consistency will get better with practice. I still need to learn how to compensate for the recoil and how to not jerk the gun, after all."

"That's cheating!" Cindy declared.

"If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying hard enough," Taylor retorted. Looking around, she asked, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Well, since you didn't pick New Identity, we like to do interviews before you go through any changes," Cindy explained. "Something of a before and after thing. So, we're heading to one of the studios. We've got a few people whose only job is to conduct entry and exit interviews."

Nervously, Taylor asked," What kind of questions would they be asking?"

Considering for a moment, Cindy replied, "Oh, you know, the basics. Favorite foods, favorite drinks, any hobbies, why you decided to join Slut Life, stuff like that."

"So I should tell them I was emotionally blackmailed by an asshole of a recruiter?" Taylor asked innocently.

Cindy winced. "We'd really rather you didn't. Granted, it'd probably get cut during editing, but they prefer to leave as much in as they can." Giving Taylor the puppy-dog-eye treatment, she requested, "Can you skip that bit and mention wanting to be a hero instead?"

Resisting the, admittedly compelling, pout, Taylor asked, "Why should I? It's what happened, after all."

Cindy shrugged. "I didn't think that would work. While you were practicing with those guns, I was talking to my boss. Apparently, the higher ups authorized me to offer you some compensation if you leave Tricher's part out of it. I'm not sure I would take it, but they told me to make the offer."

"So another bribe?" Taylor asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Is it anything good?"

"Possibly," Cindy replied. "I'm not a magical girl, so I can't be sure, but they said something about adding a bit of extra power to the ritual, which would enable you to get an extra tool out of it."

Taylor's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath in shock. "That's a pretty big deal," she stated. "Do you think I could get more out of them by refusing unless they give me more?"

Cindy shrugged. "I'm not sure. It might work, or they might decide to just cancel or pre-record the interview and cut out anything they don't like instead. As is, they should be sending it out live."

"Fine," Taylor decided. "I won't mention anything about Tricher."

Cindy gave Taylor a quick hug. "Thanks, that'll make things a lot easier around the office."

"You're welcome," Taylor said with a sigh. "Now come on, I want to get this over with before I change my mind."

[hr][/hr]

"Good evening everyone, and welcome to another episode of Meet the Contestants!" the show's host, Vernon Gallagher, announced. "Today we have a very special contestant for you all to meet. Coming all the way from a mostly unexplored corner of the multiverse, we have Taylor Hebert, from Earth Bet!"

Amid raucous applause, and blushing furiously from the attention, Taylor made her way to the provided seat. Forcing herself to calm down, she sat and said, "Thank you for having me, Vernon."

"And thank you for coming," Vernon said cheerfully. "We always enjoy meeting the new contestants before they get started with their transition from civilian to celebrity. Your show is scheduled to begin in a few weeks, correct?"

"That's what they tell me," Taylor said. "Apparently, it depends on a few factors, but that's what they're trying for."

Vernon nodded. "Now, for our standard first question, why did you decide to become a contestant on Slut Life?"

Taylor and Cindy had discussed how to best answer this question while walking to the studio. "Well, my home is a bit of a shit hole… I can swear on air, right?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Vernon replied, waving off the concern. "You're a contestant on a sex-based reality show. It'll take more than a few bad words to bother our censors."

"Oh, good," Taylor said before continuing. "Anyway, Earth Bet has been going downhill for decades. We have more villains than heroes, with more appearing all the time. I've wanted to be a hero since I was a little girl, so when I was given the opportunity to become a better hero, how could I not take it?"

"Very civic minded of you," Vernon agreed. "Now, we'll come back to that and your plans for the show in a bit. First we'd like to get to know you a bit better."

"Sure," Taylor said gamely. "What would you like to know?"

"We have a standard list of questions that most people find interesting," Vernon explained. "Nothing too personal, mind you, just a few basic details. First, do you prefer tea, coffee, juice, or milk?"

"I typically prefer tea," Taylor began, "but it also depends on the time of day and the season. Juice is definitely better on a hot summer day, for instance."

"Do you have a favorite animal?"

"Not particularly," Taylor replied. "I like both cats and dogs, but spiders and insects have started to grow on me a bit. It probably has something to do with being able to control them."

"Can we have a demonstration?" Vernon asked curiously.

"Sure," Taylor said with a shrug. "Just… don't freak out, alright?"

[hr][/hr]

"Liana, come watch this!" Meagan yelled without looking away from the screen in front of her.

"What is it?" the dark magical girl asked as she came up and looked over the other girl's shoulder. "Is that Taylor?"

"Yeah, she gave an interview earlier today," Meagan replied. "I thought you should see this part."

"Sure, what's it about?" Liana asked.

"About why you're going to be apologizing to the girl as soon as you can," Meagan said with finality. "And taking any punishment she decides to give you."

Liana blinked. "It can't be that bad," she commented. At Meagan's level look, she sighed. "Fine, I'll play it." Scooting around the chair and settling in Meagan's lap, Liana hit the button to begin the video. Twenty minutes later, after the video had finished, the magical girl gulped. "I definitely owe her an apology," Liana decided. "Though I think I'll wait until she's off planet before I give it."

"Fair enough," Meagan agreed.

[hr][/hr]

After Taylor was safely back on the space station with her insects and a collection of new ones she'd picked up along the way, Cindy found herself back in Bob Ross's office to discuss the interview Taylor had had earlier in the day. For the first time in years, the live show had been cancelled halfway through, with an edited copy put out for broadcast shortly after the recording finished.

"They actually had to censor her?" Ross asked incredulously. "What did she say?"

Coughing into her fist to stall for a moment, Cindy answered, "Her insect demonstration was deemed too creepy for all viewers, so it was cut out of the aired interview. It's up on the website, though. That led to asking about how she got the ability to control them without being a psychic or magical girl."

"And that led to discussing Trigger Events?" Ross guessed.

"It did, including her own," Cindy replied. "Which, in turn, caused the show to go to a quick commercial break while they cleaned up Vernon Gallagher's vomit. They stopped broadcasting live after the second time. I'm not sure why they thought handing Taylor a pair of earplugs and a blindfold before showing footage of her in the locker was a good idea."

"Huh… I thought he had a stronger stomach than that," Ross mused.

"Just be glad they cut out any reactions from the audience," Cindy commented drolly. "We nearly had a stampede of people trying to make it to the bathroom in time." Shaking her head, Cindy continued, "That lead to more discussion about the state of her world, including the Endbringers. All in all, the studio decided they needed to cut a lot of the footage so it'd be suitable for general consumption. They did put the whole interview, including cleaning up the vomit, on the Slut Life website, though."

"Oh?" Ross asked, even as he started pulling up the page. "How's that going?"

"It's gone viral, what with it being something Slut Life deemed too extreme to show," Cindy said bluntly. "Apparently, it's become something of a challenge to watch the entire thing."

"That is a first," Ross agreed. "Let's see what the comment section says..." He skipped the video and started reading, gesturing for Cindy to come around so she could look as well. "If you don't cry, you're not human."

"I take offense to that. Just because I don't have tear ducts...," Cindy read. "Looks like it's from a naga."

"I'm a dragon, and _I_ cried," Ross read.

"Oh, I recognize that username," Cindy declared. "That's Smaug."

"Isn't he going to be one of her owners?" Ross asked, despite having read the contract.

"Yes," Cindy replied. "I think there's a good chance he'll mother her after watching that."

"A dragon acting like a mother hen," Ross pondered. "That might be good for our ratings, just from the novelty of it."

"Probably," Cindy replied. "Moving on to the next one… the Crimson Fucker says 'This was HELLARIOUS!'"

"He would think that," Ross groaned.

"You know who he is?" Cindy asked.

"Unfortunately," Ross replied. "Don't worry about it. It's above your pay grade."

"If you say so," Cindy replied with a shrug. Looking at the screen, she read, "Looks like the Intergalactic Psychic's Association has released a statement that this 'Simurgh' or 'Ziz' is not a member, and that they'd _never_ condone its apparent actions."

Ross nodded. "It makes sense that they'd want to distance themselves from that. I like the next one," Ross added. "It's not everyday you see a dark cult denounce something as an 'utterly depraved empowerment ritual.'"

Cindy looked at the time and winced. "While I'd love to sit here going through these all with you, I need to get going."

"That's fine," Ross replied. "It's enough to know that Miss Hebert is gaining quite a bit of respect just for surviving that hellhole. Have a good night."

"Thanks," Cindy said. "You too. Don't stay up too late looking at all the silly comments. And don't watch the interview before bed. Or right after you've eaten. You'll regret it if you do."

"I'll keep that mind," Ross called after his subordinate as she left. Turning back to his screen, he laughed at the next comment. Dethklok dubbed the interview 'Brutal.' He froze for a moment as a thought came to him, before he hurriedly worked to find a way to preemptively ban the heavy metal group from traveling to Earth Bet.


	15. Preparation 2:a

Preparation 2.a

[hr][/hr]

AN: I'd like to thank all the people on my Discord server who helped come up with all of the interactions below. If you recognize a name, it was either used with permission or is a coincidence. I'm not going to be confirming which are which. Some of the formatting may be slightly off, such as using hashes instead of the at symbol, but I wasn't able to force the system to do what I wanted, so I made due. This PHO-style interlude was made primarily using the Myrddin PHO Interlude Wizard, serving most of your PHO interlude needs.

[hr][/hr]

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 **Topic: Taylor Hebert**

 **In: Boards ► Discussion ► Interviews**

 **Slut_Watch** (Original Poster)

Posted On Jan 11th 6349:

Man, did you see that new chick Slut Life picked up? They censored her interview. They CENSORED her INTERVIEW! What the fuck?! Anyway, they nicely posted the whole thing [color=green]here[/color]. Now, there's some warnings about graphic content and shit, and believe you me, you're gonna want to read them. I sure wish I had. Graphic shit, man. Never seen the host blow chunks like that.

Apparently, the world this Taylor Hebert comes from is a shitfest. Don't believe me? Watch the damn video for yourself, just don't say I didn't warn you. Oh... and don't watch it if you're afraid of bugs. Seriously, just don't.

And by all that is holy, keep the damn Smell-O-Vision _off_ if you don't want to puke. I'm serious here, don't do it.

 **(Showing page 1 of 76)**

 **►Trollolol**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Ha ha! First. Seriously, though. Don't watch that video unless you have a strong stomach or a complete lack of feels.

Or if you like having nightmares.

 **►Innocent?One** (Verified Not Innocent)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Hmm... So that's what it feels like to spontaneously develop entomophobia. The real question now is... Who will my mind healer go to for help with [i]their[/i] new phobia once I'm done explaining how I developed _my_ new phobia?

Because I'm gonna need to get over that phobia if I'm gonna go over and "comfort" that poor girl as best as I'm able!

 **►Challengair**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I dare you all to watch full vid. Seriously, that shit is fucked up.

If you don't cry you're not human!

 **►PrettySnek** (Verified Naga)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I take offense to that, #Challengair! Just because I don't have tear ducts...

 **►WingsOfIron** (Verified Dragon)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I'm a dragon and _I_ cried!

That girl needs some serious cuddles.

 **►CrimsonFucker**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

That video was HELLARIOUS!

 **►Dagon_Cult_Official** (Verified Cultist)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Having watched this interview in its entirety, High Priest of the Deep, Ichabod Diefenbach, has condemned the actions of those three girls and others like her to the deepest degree.

That disgusting display was nothing more an utterly depraved empowerment ritual. There are much easier and less distasteful paths to power.

 **►Innocent?One** (Verified Not Innocent)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Seriously Crimson? I knew you were fucked up in the head, but seriously?!

 **►Intergalactic_Psychic_Association_Official** (Verified Psychic)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

We, at the Intergalactic Psychic Association hereby do condemn the actions of this Simurgh creature. She is not a member of our association, and would not be eligible for membership should she request it.

We stand for the responsible use of psionic talents and abhor the methods this creature employs and the goals it strives for. It is obvious that this creature knows nothing of ethics or honor.

 **►Dethklok_Official** (Verified Musician)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

That was fucking BRUTAL!

We've got to include that place in our next tour! It'll be awesome!

 **►Not_That_Henderson**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Sorry for my lateness on this guys. But that video triggered me so hard that I must have warped back around to lucidity. Anyway, I didn't trust myself to not rant up a storm after seeing...that. The bugs...meh. I've seen worse. Two words: Spider Rain. But that , appropriately named, Trigger Event horrified me. And I study Lovecraft-verses for a living.

 **►Not_That_Henderson**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

#Innocent?One Seriously man? It's Crimson Fucker. He's a professional troll. Dead serious. Go read his Twitter. I'd be more surprised if he didn't go straight for the shock value.

 **►Cabol_Intern**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

They've got _three_ eldritch abominations that _stick around_ between attacks? Did someone screw up a summoning ritual trying to reenact one of those old Godzilla movies?

 **►Police_Girl** (Verified Hellsing) (Verified Vampire)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

It's true. He is the biggest troll. We're a bit worried he'll decide to go on vacation again.

At least this time there aren't any Nazis involved.

 **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 74, 75, 76**

 **(Showing page 2 of 76)**

 **►CrimsonFucker**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

#Police_Girl (with the big tiddies), did you even WATCH the interview? The girl's home town is crawling with Nazis! Why, I might just need to find Ms. Hebert and give her some tips.

 **►Plato_Did_It**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I'm... not sure what to say... other than that that planet is fucked.

I hope Taylor, or someone she ends up recruiting, gets a planet out of this or something. If that was my world, I'd be looking to jump ship, not volunteering to head back.

At least it sounds like she'll be setting up a charity to help people around her home town and the rest of the planet. Maybe I'll see about donating a few dollars to it once they let us know what it is.

 **►Sir_Integra_Fairbrook_Wingates_Hellsing** (Verified Hellsing)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Alucard, don't you dare! We have enough things to worry about without you getting us into more trouble!

 **►Akaibu** (Verified Magical Girl)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

oh by savi's star, i've heard some nightmares from some of the other girls about their school lives, but I don't think any even they hold a light to the foulness of that Hess girl and the so called former "friend" of poor Taylor was put through, i think i might get a few friends and pay a little visit to her world...

 **►Skynet_Overlord** (Moderator) (Verified AI)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

#Akaibu Advocating violence against other sentients is a violation of the forum's Code of Conduct. Also note that this contestant is from a newly contacted universe; there are contact protocols that must be followed, and attempts at casual travel to such a world will only result in your arrest. I'll look forward to your court-mandated run on the show should this happen. I understand the subject matter of this particular topic is very sensitive, so it's just a warning this time, but don't do it again!

Lets try and keep things on topic and civil people.

► **CrimsonFucker**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Fine, Mom (#Sir_Integra_Fairbanks_Wingates_Hellsing), I guess I'll leave her to her own devices instead of helping her kill Nazis. Seriously, though, can you be any more boring?

It's always "Don't do this," or "Don't do that," or "Don't burn down that orphanage with the burning kittens, and why are the kittens on fire?" with you.

► **Innocent?One** (Verified Not Innocent)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I'm of mixed mind here… On one hand it's CrimsonFucker… On the other hand, Taylor taking some of his brand of advice might actually _help_ that world… And on the _other_ hand, _it's #CrimsonFucker_!

And talking to the show's Contractee about possible actions to take on their world doesn't actually break any of the new universe contact protocols that I'm aware of...

 **►Akaibu** (Verified Magical Girl)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

No advocating violence here , just a slightly strongly worded suggestion and a little show of frightful power to some girls who think they can get away with stuff like that, nothing more. but i get the point.

 **►Skynet_Overlord** (Moderator) (Verified AI)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

And again, new universe contact protocols. And again, I'll look forward to your court-mandated run on the show if you try anything. Now drop it, or that warning will become a bit... more.

 **►Caped_Baldy** (Verified Superhero)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I wonder if I could visit Earth Bet. It sounds like fighting those End-thingies could be fun.

Oh well, no point worrying about it now. I'll see if I can once we've opened up contact or whatever.

 **►Not_That_Henderson**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

And still more proof that just because the abominations are cute and fight other abominations doesn't mean that they aren't out for your sanity and soul. ...Or they literally eat friendship energy or something. All the teams studying Magical Girls gave up and took up day drinking as a full time job. So we have no clue. Maybe if becoming a magical girl didn't stick you as a teenager forever, people would be more willing to stick around and learn about them.

 **►Cute_Julia** (Verified Magical Girl)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Hey now, #Not_That_Henderson, what's not very nice. For the most part, Magical Girls work to make things better. Sure, some of us need emotional energy to power our spells, but that doesn't make us monsters.

And you don't _have_ to be a teenager forever. It depends on what type of Magical Girl you are, how you use your magic, and how long you stay transformed.

As for people like Akaibu? There's a reason we have teams dedicated to hunting down rogues.

 **►Nugar** (Verified Former Contestant) (Verified Junior SL Producer)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Huh. So the girl who controls spiders has great legs. Is that like, a pan universal constant? You want spider powers, you must have legs up to 'here'? Seriously, name one spider druid, summoner, priest, empowered, or arachne like species who doesn't have great legs. I'm not even a leg man and I noticed.

Anyway, I heard they're being cautious with Drone Queens and Arachne and the like. The control seems to be involuntary, instant, and range based, though no one is sure if there's lingering effects yet. They might have to set up nogo fields to keep our chitinous friends safe.

 **►Silk_Merchant** (Verified Arachne)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Controlling all those insects like that was so cool! On the other hand... if she can control Arachnes and Insect Queens that easily... Brrr... scary.

I'm hoping they look into that soon, and very carefully, but I'm not going to volunteer to be one of their guinea pigs. No-siree-bob. I like being able to control my own actions, thank you very much.

On a less scary note, if she can control regular spiders that easily, she could produce some interesting fabric. I know us Arachnes are known for the clothing we can make, but it sounds like Taylor might make an even better tailor than we do, with some practice.

I don't relish the eventual competition she'll bring to the market, but I am interested in seeing what she can make.

 **►Not_That_Henderson**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Hey, that brings up another scary thought. Are we sure it's just insects and arachnids and not "all invertebrates with simple neural tissue?" Because shoggoths count, if it's the latter.

 **End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 74, 75, 76**

 **(Showing page 3 of 76)**

 **►Nala** (Verified Sphinx)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

What has six legs and no conscience?

Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess, and Madison Clements.

Not the best riddle, it's true, but I only took a moment to come up with it. I don't think I'll be keeping it, though, as it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

 **►Nugar** (Verified Former Contestant) (Verified Junior SL Producer)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

#Not_That_Henderson, I don't think anyone knows yet. I think they're planning on doing most of the research during the show itself, so you'll find out when we all find out. Also, don't shoggoths only have simplified nervous tissue some of the time? They morph so...?

 **►Science_of_Patience** (Verified Scientist)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

That is a very good question, #Not_That_Henderson. We'll have to look into it. Thank you for the suggestion.

 **►Honeydew_Dreams** (Verified Cutie)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I only watched the broadcast version, and I have no intention of watching the uncensored version. When they were trying to pick someone to be Miss Hebert's Cutie, they told us being near her could be like being on Beelzajaab, and there's no way I was going to get involved with anything like that.

I heard one of our group got picked for the job, though. I hope she can put up with the bugs, because Taylor needs all the friends she can get.

 **►Tekeli-li** (Verified Cultist)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

That's a horribly depraved power granting ritual! They didn't even fuck her to do it properly! What were they thinking?

On a different note... All Praise to Taylor Hebert:Queen of the Shoggoths!

 **►Patty_Cake**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Oh god... my boyfriend dared me to watch that video, the prick. I don't like bugs, but I've seen a few clips of one of those Beelzajaab documentaries, and I figured, no way this could be worse.

I was wrong. So very, very wrong. Watching a camera be swarmed is one thing, if almost too much for me to handle. Watching the same number of bugs swarm a camera under the clear direction of an intelligent mind? Much, much worse.

I didn't watch the rest of the video after that, but my boyfriend will definitely be sleeping on the couch for the next few nights... unless I get nightmares bad enough that I need to have him in bed with me.

 **►Star-Struck**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

#Tekeli-li I don't even think it's a ritual, just a thing that happens when people have psychotic episodes on their planet.

 **►Not_So_Ugly_Betty** (Verified Contestant)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

#Star-Struck #Tekeli-Li It beats my home planet. There we just get the trauma. No cool powers, no ritual sex, just boring old psychosis.

 **►Hypno-Steve** (Verified Hypnotist)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

It is my professional opinion that Miss Hebert has been subjected to stresses far beyond what would be needed to cause psychosis, as rightly pointed out by #Not_So_Ugly_Betty. Condolences on your world being shitty, by the way, but at least you got out, right?

Anyway, back on topic. Miss Hebert is apparently planning on returning to her own world. It is my considered opinion that such plans speak to her mental instability. She should seek out a proper therapist immediately.

Unfortunately, she has neglected taking a hypnotist as one of her owners, so I can only hope she will seek out appropriate treatment elsewhere.

 **►Sam_I_AM**

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

One the one hand, what Taylor went through is criminal and I feel bad for what happened to her. On the other hand, I keep wanting to laugh maniacally about what she's going to be going back there with.

I mean, she's got her bugs, and that's already terrifying, but she's also going to have the backing of Slut Life, and she's getting magical powers. Even if she turns out to be one of those boring low-tier magical girls, it should still be amusing to watch the fireworks once she's back home... assuming she takes a few camera drones with her, of course.

Anyway, this is definitely a matter of laugh or cry, so... MWAHAHAHAHA!

 **►Dreadskull_The_Malevolent** (Verified Supervillain)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I have seen great evil before, but nothing I've seen thus far has compared to the petty cruelty of those three girls.

Sure, I've held people hostage. I've assassinated a few mayors. I've even stolen candy from a baby (It was butterscotch! Butterscotch! Do you know how hard it is to get that these days?). But I would never engage in such a petty, long term campaign targeting one person.

If you want to kill someone, fine. Just do it. If you want to steal, sure, go ahead. If you want to destroy someone but leave them alive, break their kneecaps if they're an athlete, their fingers if they're a pianist, or their face if they're a model. You get the idea.

Drawing it out like those girls did is just... asinine. Evil should be more practical than that.

We should have standards, damn it!

 **►Mistress_Jane** (Verified Sadist Dominatrix)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

You see that with the bugs? That, right there, is why none of the dominatrixes wanted anything to do with her. Our job depends on having control, and, with someone like Hebert, we can't have it without going to extreme measures.

Seriously, they had her in quarantine for a _week_. For someone who isn't radioactive and doesn't have a plague or something, that's insane!

We can't do our jobs if we have to keep watching over our shoulders for swarms of bees or something. I'm sorry to hear about what she went through, but I'd rather not have anything to do with her.

[b] **►Agent_Smith** [/b] (Verified Agent)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Damn... I'm sorry she didn't take an Agent as an owner. With the counter-surveillance capabilities of having a swarm of eyes to keep track of everyone in an area, the missions she would have been able to complete would have been mind boggling.

I'm getting hard just thinking about it.

 **►Alphonse Flemel** (Verified Alchemist)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

Damn. I wish I was going to be one of her neighbors...

Just think of all the rare ingredients she could get me! Spider silk and venom, fresh honey, honeydew from aphids, and so much more!

Sure, I'd love to get my hands on other of her fluids as well, but there's a surprisingly large amount of stuff that would be easier to make with an army of insects on beck and call.

Whichever alchemist is lucky enough to be near her, assuming one of us is near wherever she ends up, will be one lucky bastard. Unfortunately, I can't leave Earth at the moment, important research and all, but if I weren't in the middle of a three-month long brewing cycle, I would be sorely tempted to follow her to wherever it is she's being sent.

 **►Denise_The_Menace** (Verified Contestant)

Replied On Jan 11th 6349:

I'm not sure what the big deal is here. Some girl gets stuck in her locker for a little bit. Big whoop.

How much should we care? Zip a dee doo dah. Seriously, she's such a drama whore. Get over yourself, Hebert, no one gives a damn about you breaking your nail, or whatever.

 **End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 74, 75, 76**

]■[


	16. Preparation 2:2

Preparation 2.2

[hr][/hr]

"Where are we headed this time?" Taylor asked as she and Cindy made their way through the city.

"We're heading to a small airfield just outside the city limits," Cindy explained. "We need to make sure we can safely get you off the planet, so the scientists found someone to check, and we're heading out to meet them." Looking over to the younger girl, she added, "If everything checks out, we'll be moving you over from there, which is why I wanted you to pack up your insects. I'll be taking them over once you get there."

"And it's far enough away that we need a plane?" Taylor asked.

"We don't," Cindy replied. "We're going to be using another space station."

Taylor nodded in understanding. "I suppose it would be easier without worrying about me losing control of any insects nearby or anything."

"Pretty much," Cindy agreed. Looking ahead, she sighed. "Damn it, I forgot they're having a Three Kings Day festival on this road. Come on, we can cut through this alley to go around it," she said, pulling Taylor to the side and down a shadowed alley.

"So, why do we need to walk?" Taylor asked.

"Mostly because it's a nice day and it isn't far enough to worry about taking a car," Cindy replied.

Taylor huffed in frustration. "I meant, why doesn't Slut Life have another satellite we could use?"

"We do," Cindy replied. "But the one you're staying on is our quarantine satellite, so we keep its access point away from the others. It has much higher security than most of the others do."

"Put your hands in the air," a gruff voice ordered from behind them. "Don't turn around!" he shouted as Cindy began to do so. "I'm mugging you! Do what I say or I'll shoot!"

"Really?" Cindy asked incredulously without turning. "Why?"

"Shut up!" the man snapped. "And give me your purses!" Neither girl moved, as neither had a purse. "Fine, give me your wallets, damn it!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cindy asked as she slowly reached into a pocket for her wallet.

"I didn't ask for your advice!" the man snapped irritably.

"No, really," Cindy began. "I work for Slut Life. If you're that hard up for money, I can work something out with you."

"Oh, no," the man said warningly. "You're not getting me involved with that filth!"

"I really think you should reconsider," Taylor spoke up. "You should probably take her offer or leave."

"Oh, and why should I do that, girl?" the man demanded. From behind him came an eerie sound, like scales clicking together and the sounds of millions of tiny feet stepping over everything in their path and a great number of wings flapping in the air.

"Because if you don't, I might get angry," Taylor replied. "And I don't think you want that." Without turning her head, she added, "You might want to look behind you."

Keeping his weapon trained on his targets, the would-be mugger looked over his shoulder. "What in the name of all that is Holy is that?!" he demanded in shock.

"That would be the forty-nine million, eight hundred twenty-six thousand, five hundred and eight insects I managed to collect since you started mugging us," Taylor replied calmly. "Now, would you like to reconsider mugging us, or should we see what that many insects and spiders can do to to a human? They're faster than you, after all."

The man hesitated until something landed on him and crawled down the back of his shirt. He quickly ran away, screaming incoherently about Beelzebub taking the form of a girl and trying to swallow his soul.

[hr][/hr]

"Hey guys, I'm Hackerman," a dark haired man spoke into a camera drone. "Today I am going to show you how to hack a biological supercomputer on an alternate Earth. Normally, you would need a modem. The modem is what allows you to bypass the grid relay and penetrate the barrier through the sixth dimension. However," he gestured across the room, the camera panning to show a girl sitting strapped to a chair with a colander strapped to her head, "we have access to a primary relay node, so we will be using that instead."

"Excuse me, Hackerman?" a man called from the side. The camera panned further, showing a man in a lab coat. "Is there a reason you want to go with a physical link? We know where the probe is originating from, after all."

The camera shifted to show Hackerman again, who was looking into it quizzically. "Why would we want to bother with a networked connection when we have a physical link?"

"Well, it does have a lower chance of causing Miss Hebert's brain to explode," the scientist replied.

"Don't I have any say in this?" Taylor asked. "I'd really rather not explode."

"Not really," Hackerman stated as he began connecting a few last minute cables. "Using a direct link will prevent signal loss or forming a connection with the wrong system. Obviously."

"Now, I admit I'm not an expert at hacking," the scientist protested, "but computer science has advanced significantly since whenever it was you came from. I'm sure a physical connection isn't necessary."

Hackerman ignored the man, beginning to type on his keyboard. After a few seconds, a modulated female voice came through the speaker. "Please insert external drive."

"Yeah," Hackerman said sleazily. "I'll insert my external drive." Turning to the camera, he added, "Ladies." A few more seconds of typing passed before the camera view switched to show Taylor again.

"What's happening?" Taylor asked as a device whirred to life above her.

"It's inserting the external drive," Hackerman explained. "The communication array is good, but a physical connection will provide the maximum bandwidth while having the lowest risk of signal loss."

"Ow!" Taylor yelped as the needle pierced her skull. "What the hell was that?"

"Just inserting the external drive," Hackerman called back. "It should be at the correct depth in three, two, one."

The camera showed one of the computer screens flashing data too quickly to be seen without freeze frame. "The mainframe is going to try to stop us from making a direct link to the kernel, so we have to bypass it by forcing a segmentation fault. Now, this is a capital offense on most planets, so make sure to hide your proxy."

"No it isn't," the scientist exclaimed. "That would just alert the computer you're trying to hack that you're there!"

Hackerman ignored him as the computer terminal began beeping. "We've been detected, and it's trying to force us out of the system. I'll have to go into hardcore hacking mode." Sitting back from the terminal for a moment, he turned and began donning a glove with a partial keyboard attached.

"What the hell are you doing now?" the scientist demanded.

"Can't talk, busy hacking," Hackerman countered as he continued typing on one keyboard followed by another, watching three screens simultaneously as loud syntho-pop played in the background.

Finally, the main computer flashed a message. [Communications module active. Send message?]

"Neato!" Hackerman cheered, pumping his gloved fist. "There we go, now, let's just make sure the conversation protocols are correct." Turning to the scientist, he asked, "What did you want me to tell it, again?"

The scientist sighed in frustration. "We want to know if it can safely be moved away from the Earth."

Nodding, Hackerman hit a few more keys before sitting back and waiting for a response.

[Negation. Query.]

"It looks like there is an issue," Hackerman replied. "It also wants more information."

"Before we continue, I have to ask, is there any danger for Miss Hebert currently?" the scientist asked.

Hackerman looked at a few gauges before answering, "Temperature, voltage, and amperage are all reading nominal. Her blood pressure is a little high, but she should be fine."

"That's easy for you to say," Taylor griped. "You don't have a needle sticking into your _brain_!"

"Alright," the scientist decided. "We've come this far already. We may as well continue. It'll be just a short while longer, alright, Miss Hebert?" Walking around to where Hackerman sat, he stooped so that he could reach the keyboard. "Are you seriously still using a keyboard from the 1980s?" he asked looking it over. "Whatever, let me type in some of the generalities. Just get this thing ready to send the information." Moments later, the message was sent.

[Interest. Query.]

The scientist looked at the response in shock. "What's it saying now?"

"It's interested in going, but needs permission," Hackerman said while checking a few more screens.

[Acquiescence. Excitement.]

"And it looks like we're good to go," Hackerman said with finality. "Call up whoever you have set to move her, and we can pack this all up."

"Ah, yes..." the scientist said hesitantly. "It may take a few hours for Captain Andreyasn to be available, and I believe there may be a few last minute details to pin down. Something about needing a fairly significant amount of mass to use as fuel."

"Oh, that will be easy to take care of," Hackerman replied casually. "We'll just need to leave the connection open until then. We can find out what can be used for fuel then."

"Do you mean I'm going to need to sit here, with a needle in my head, for hours?!" Taylor demanded from where she was strapped into a chair. "God damn it! What am I supposed to do now?!"

Hackerman looked over at Taylor. "By the way, why did you want to ensure there were no insects anywhere near us?" The girl just growled in response.

[hr][/hr]

Cindy made her way back onto the satellite after getting notice that the attempt to contact Taylor's supercomputer was successful and that it would be safe to return. Figuring that Taylor was probably starting to go a bit stir crazy, she had picked up a box of crickets at a pet store while on her way back from retrieving some paperwork that Taylor needed to go through. From the sound of things, she could probably use the distraction, as they were waiting on somebody able to move the computer being available.

"Hello, everyone!" she called as she made her way into the room. There was computer equipment strewn about haphazardly and off to one side, Taylor was sitting, strapped to a chair with a device attached to her head.

"Hello, Cindy!" Taylor called, not turning to look in her direction. "I'd wave or something, but I'm a little tied up right now."

The man in the labcoat, one Analyst Cuypers, huffed irritably and said, "Come now, Miss Hebert, as we've explained several times, the restraints are there for your protection."

"I get that," Taylor agreed dryly. "I really don't want the needle in my head to do any more damage than it already has."

"The what?!" Cindy demanded. "Why the hell does she have a needle in her head?!"

The scruffily dressed man behind the computers replied, "A direct connection was the most effective option we had." He looked off to the side before adding, "Obviously." Looking back, he continued, "The neural mapping sensor grid she is wearing made sure we'd use the least damaging entry vector."

"Whatever you say," Taylor called back. "Anyways, I've got a box full of crickets to play with so… any requests?"

The man Cindy knew could only be Hackerman adjusted his glasses and asked, "What kind of request?"

"Is there any music you'd like me to try to play?" Taylor asked.

"You can use crickets to play music?" Cuypers cut in. "Fascinating."

"I wouldn't want to listen to it," Hackerman began, looking up from one of his monitors, "but would you be able to emulate a modem with them?"

"A what?" Cuypers asked. "Is that some sort of primitive boondoggle from your time?"

"It is a method of sending information as sound," Hackerman explained. "I read a paper on some guy sending a heavily detailed message through a voice only communication before. Started a war or something."

"I don't know," Taylor answered with a wince. "There's a lot of sustained high notes in that noise. I'm not sure I could replicate it accurately enough."

Hackerman shrugged. "It's something to work towards, at least. You can always start with Morse Code."

Taylor looked like she was giving the idea some thought. "I'll give that a try." Pitching her voice a little higher, she asked, "Did you bring anything else for me to work on?"

"Having your crickets produce music won't strain your concentration?" Cuypers asked incredulously.

"Not as far as I can tell," Taylor replied. "It might be different if I were using a whole swarm, but I didn't have any problems earlier today."

"How many insects were you controlling?" Cuypers asked excitedly.

Deciding to cut in before things could devolve into technical talk, Cindy cut in, "She was controlling a lot of them. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to go over the details once you start studying her properly." Holding up a tablet, she added, "I figure she might want to take the AI design survey while she can't do anything else. That way, it'll be ready for her when she gets started."

The Analyst sighed. "Very well. I suppose we can go over this in more detail later."

"So," Taylor called. "Want to come over here so I don't have to keep shouting?"

Cindy blushed slightly at her slip. "Oh, right, just give me a moment." Picking her way around the tangled wires littering the floor, she made her way over to her charge. Settling herself next to Taylor, she tapped on the tablet to activate the screen and began, "The first question is fairly simple. Do you have a specific AI you would like to emulate?"

"Not that I can think of," Taylor replied. "I never really kept up on science fiction." Slowly the crickets began chirping in tune, starting with a slow rendition of Do-Re-Mi.

"No problem," Cindy replied. "That just means you'll need to do the rest of the survey." Clearing her throat and waggling the tablet for effect, she continued. "First question. Which is more important to you? Loyalty or obedience?"

"My first reaction is to say obedience," Taylor replied. "But that could lead to even stupid orders, made in the heat of the moment being followed. Sometimes you need to go against somebody's wishes to help them, so… Yeah, I have to go with loyalty being more important."

"Right," Cindy said, making a mark on the screen. "Next they want you to list five activities you enjoy."

"I enjoy reading, looking through forums, cooking," Taylor thought for a moment before continuing, "I think I like exercising, and music is fun, too."

"All right," Cindy replied, making a few notations. "Now it wants to know which style you'd prefer, anticipating your needs or waiting for orders?"

After a moment, Taylor replied, "I'd definitely prefer anticipation. It's a lot less creepy that way."

Hackerman scoffed. "You haven't seen a properly optimized helper AI, then. Very helpful, but very creepy."

"Oh, definitely," Cuypers agreed. "You never go full anticipation." After a moment, he added, "Without the proper safeguards, that type usually goes rampant and tries to kill you to help you."

"Let's avoid that!" Taylor yelped.

"I'll add that to the notes," Cindy replied. "Now, I've got another three screens worth of questions to go through before Captain Andreyasn gets here.

[hr][/hr]

Captain Andreyasn grumbled as he stood before Bob Ross. Ross, for his part, was watching the scientist carefully. "Is there a problem with the assignment, Captain Andreyasn?"

The blue clad scientist shook his head. "Nothing is wrong with the assignment. I just don't understand why they don't want me to wear my epaulets."

Glancing at his computer screen for a moment, Ross replied, "They probably don't want you to have antimatter near Miss Hebert."

Kevyn looked from Bob Ross to one of his shoulders, where an epaulet was floating and back. "I'm not sure I see the issue. They let me into the Mad Scientist meetings with them, after all."

Ross nodded. "Yes, they do. That's because you've needed to use them several times already and have shown that you will, typically, use them responsibly." With a dark chuckle, he added, "Besides, do you really think _that's_ the most dangerous thing in those meetings?"

"So, if that's not the issue, then what? The containment is entirely safe."

"Mostly, it's because the scientists assigned to Miss Hebert aren't sure how they'll react to the mild warping of reality caused by the interdimensional probe poking into her brain," Ross explained.

Andreyasn thought for a moment before asking, "But they want me to use billions of nanoscopic wormholes to transport the girl and her computer across the galaxy?"

"Do your wormholes use antimatter?" Ross asked, already knowing the answer from looking at his screen.

"No," Andreyasn admitted.

"Do they, as an _intended feature_ , explode violently?" Ross pressed.

"No," Andreyasn answered again, not particularly caring for this line of testing.

"Have they been tested with interdimensional phenomena?"

Holding up a finger to illustrate his point, Andreyasn stated, "In some ways they _are_ interdimensional phenomena."

Ross nodded his agreement. "Now, we're starting to get to their point. What happens when your wormholes _fail_?"

"Most of the energy used to generate them is lost, due to the way the wormholes collapse," Andreyasn explained, "Since the conversion to standing gravitic waves is a fairly stable process, nothing would happen to the subjects involved, other than the already accounted for loss of mass. It'd only be deadly, and then only to the participants, if someone actively prevented the wormholes from forming correctly."

"So, your epaulets likely fail _dangerous_ , being weapons," Ross began, "while your wormholes fail _safe_? At least for the surrounding area?"

"Okay, I get it already," Andreyasn complained mildly. "I suppose that does bring up why you're so concerned about them _now_."

"Well," Ross began, smiling widely, "the momentary failure of several magnetic fields in Miss Hebert's vicinity when Hackerman established communication with the computer didn't help our opinion of you having them near her. Now, I know you have a Laz-5 back up, but Miss Hebert does not. If she dies, you won't get paid, and we'll complain to your wife about you taking unnecessary risks again."

Andreyasn sat in silence for a moment before standing. "If you'll excuse me, I should _probably_ swap out to my safer low profile power armor."

Bob Ross nodded genially. "You do that." He watched as Andreyasn shakily made his way out of the room before commenting, "I hope the video of that goes over well at their next meeting." He was always happy to help his more scientifically minded peers get one over on one of the younger upstarts, especially when it was done in the name of safety.

[hr][/hr]

"And we're done," Cindy announced, clicking the submit button on the AI design questionnaire.

"Thank god," Hackerman muttered from where he was sitting, playing Pong on one of the computer monitors. He scowled as he lost again. "Did you really need to ask that many questions?"

"If we want to make the best AI for Taylor we can," Cindy began, "then yes, we did." Looking through the scoring section and glancing through it, she winced slightly. She was not going to tell Taylor that her preferred AI sounded an awful lot like her old friend Emma, before the girl decided to turn evil, or whatever had happened. "I'll get these submitted for you, and they should have an AI ready within a week or two."

"Thanks, Cindy," Taylor replied. "Any idea when we can get this thing out of my head? It's starting to itch."

"We'll need to leave the connection open until after Captain Andreyasn can confirm the targeting data for his transportation device," Analyst Cuypers said.

"Hello?" a voice called from the direction of the space station's portal. "Did somebody call for a ride?"

"Are you Captain Andreyasn?" Cindy called back.

"I am," the blue suited man said as he approached the group. "I'm sorry for the delay. I needed to leave my antimatter in my other pants."

"What do you..." Taylor began before trailing off. "Don't care," she decided before continuing. "Can you get this over with so I can get this needle out of my head?"

Andreyasn looked over to Hackerman. "I see you decided to go with a direct interface."

Hackerman shrugged. "It was the most direct connection."

"Is there a reason you still have her hooked up?" Andreyasn asked, looking the contraption over. "Hm, fairly crude construction, but effective."

"We still need to make sure the computer will survive the transport," Cuypers cut in. "As I only have a rudimentary understanding of how your teraport works we decided it would be best to have you on hand to explain before we use it to transport the computer and Miss Hebert."

"Wait," Taylor demanded. "You're going use something you call a Tear-Apart on me? What the hell?!"

"Bah," Andreyasn scoffed. "It's perfectly safe. It's been tested innumerable times without any major incidents."

"What about minor incidents?" Taylor asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Andreyasn replied. "That is why we're going to be working with your computer, after all."

"I haven't heard of a teraport before," Cindy commented. "How does it work?"

Andreyasn smirked and held up a small device. "First it converts the subject into standing gravitic waves and then it sends them through millions of nano-wormholes."

"That doesn't sound safe," Taylor protested. "At all!"

"It's perfectly safe," Andreyasn objected. "Now, please be quiet while I work with the computer." Walking over to where Hackerman was sitting behind his equipment, Andreyasn gestured toward the equipment and asked, "May I?"

"Go ahead," Hackerman said, rolling his chair back. "The interface should be fairly easy to navigate. Ask if you can't figure it out."

Andreyasn looked over the display quickly. "Ah, I see what you did there. Very clever." Looking over at the suddenly nervous hacker, he added, "Don't worry, I won't spoil your fun." Turning back to the computer monitors, he added, "Alright, let's get started. He typed in a quick query and hit enter.

[Data. Concern. Query.] came the reply.

"Huh, that is an interesting system," Andreyasn commented. "Very efficient." Typing for a longer period, he hit enter again and sat back. "That's most of the information I can type in. If it needs anything else, I'll need to start sending files and hoping it can decode them."

[Contemplation. Query.]

"Ah, so it would like the extra data after all," Andreyasn murmured. "Luckily, I have a universal port with me. Mind if I send it through?"

"Can I make a copy of it?" Hackerman asked.

"I don't see why not," Andreyasn replied nonchalantly. "I did make it open source, after all." Pulling out a device, he attached it to one of the ports on the computer. "I'm copying it to your hard drive and sending it now."

"Thanks. It sounds like an interesting system, and it should be interesting trying to hack it," Hackerman replied.

"That is… probably not the best idea," Andreyasn replied. "Anyway, all we can do now is wait for the computer to finish going through the data. And that brings up another issue." Turning to Cuypers, he asked, "Why haven't you guys given it a catchy name yet?"

Cuypers shrugged. "We're still brainstorming ideas. We should have something nailed down by the time we start filming."

"You're not leaving it up to the viewers, right?" Cindy asked nervously.

Cuypers bristled. "Of course not. We don't want another Planet McSquirrelFace."

"To be fair," Cindy replied with a smirk, "it does have a lot of squirrels."

An electronic tone in the background distracted everyone before Cuypers could reply. Andreyasn looked down at the screen and smirked. "It looks like the computer has finally finished going through the data on the teraport. It has some concerns about the process, but they should be fairly easily handled."

"What's the issue?" Cuypers asked.

"Primarily, it feels that the host, that is Miss Hebert, needs to be transferred simultaneously," Andreyasn explained, "in order to prevent a potentially fatal connection loss. It should be fairly easy to synchronize teraports, so that shouldn't be an issue, though it may be uncomfortable for Taylor. Given the mass involved, it may take as long as an hour for the teraport to complete."

"What?!" Taylor demanded. "That doesn't sound safe!"

"It's perfectly safe," Andreyasn explained. "Provided no one fires a gravitic beam at your exit coordinates or anything." Looking down at the screen, he continued, "Anyway, I also have information on some superfluous mass the computer isn't using, so I can have the teraport use that as fuel, rather than risking any critical systems with a randomized mass extraction." He turned to Taylor and asked, "Ready to go?"

"No!" Taylor snapped. "There's got to be a safer way, right?"

Cuypers sighed. "Unfortunately, this is the safest way we've found so far."

Looking to Andreyasn, Cindy asked, "Is there any way to make it safer?"

"Well, having Taylor and the computer in the same place wouldn't hurt," Andreyasn replied with a shrug. "At least then you wouldn't have to worry about any dimensional flux during the teraport."

"Of course, we'd still need a way to get her to that dimension," Cuypers added.

"That would be more difficult," Andreyasn noted, stroking his goatee.

"Why?" Taylor demanded. "You people had an easy enough time getting me here in the first place."

"She's right," Cindy agreed. "Excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call."

"Excuse me," Hackerman said, nudging Andreyasn to the side. "I want to check on something."

"Sure." Andreyasn moved to the side, allowing the hacker to take back his seat. The man quickly began typing.

[Data.]

"This may be a problem," Hackerman noted, looking at his screen. "There is very little available oxygen on that planet. Taylor would need an environmental suit if she's going to be there for more than a minute or so."

"That's fairly easily arranged," Cuypers noted. "Of course, we should probably eject the direct connection first."

"That would be appreciated, yes," Taylor almost growled. "Get this thing out of my head!"

"Is there anything else we need to ask?" Hackerman asked. "Having to reinsert the probe could cause additional damage."

"I think that's everything," Andreyasn replied. "Pull it out."

"Got it," Hackerman replied. Turning to the camera, he added, "Remember, when disconnecting, it is best to ensure that there is no active communication." He typed on the keyboard for a moment before looking back up. "There. Now we can disconnect." He hit a key and the probe retracted with a sickening slurp.

"Gah!" Taylor squawked. "That felt so wrong."

"Oh, grow up," Andreyasn said. "That shouldn't have been more than a thirty on the ouchdammitometer."

"Let's see you get a needle shoved into your brain and see how you like it," Taylor griped. "Besides, it didn't hurt. It just felt really weird."

"I see," Andreyasn said. "Anyway, I'm going to see about getting a shuttle for you. It'll be easier than getting a suit for you. Let me just call Ellen and have her prep a shuttle." Pulling out a communication device, he made his way out as well.

Taylor turned her head, finally, and leveled a glare on Cuypers and Hackerman. "Do you have anything to fix the hole in my head?"

"Bandaid?" Hackerman offered, holding one up.

Cuypers sighed before pulling out a vial. "Sorry, I got distracted. Here's a simple healing potion. It should clear that right up." He handed the vial to Taylor.

Taylor just looked the vial for a moment before asking, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Speaking slowly, Cuypers explained, "You use it to heal small injuries, such as that hole in your head."

"Yes," Taylor began impatiently, "but do I drink it or pour it on the wound? Or are you going to tell me that I need to do something especially degrading with it? That seems to be a thing around here, after all."

"Oh, right," Cuypers realized, "you've never used a healing potion before. My apologies. You just need to drink it."

"Thank you," Taylor said as she popped the cork and downed the potion. "That tastes awful!" she complained.

"But it worked," Cuypers replied. "We don't know why, but most flavorings tend to ruin potions or cost exorbitant amounts to do right."

There was a thumping sound that reverberated through the station, interrupting Taylor's train of thought. "What was that?" she demanded.

"That would be the shuttle," Andreyasn explained, walking back to the group. "Ellen sent a few grunts to pilot it for you, and they've docked to the airlock." Shaking his head he muttered, "I'm not sure why she bothered sending more than one." Speaking louder, he continued, "As soon as Miss Matos comes back with whatever she needs to shunt you to the correct dimension, we can get started."

"I'm back," Cindy called as she walked into the room, followed by a busty blonde teen wearing an orange, poofy outfit that barely covered anything and wielding a staff. "This is Mina. She's a Carnal Pit magical girl we keep on retainer."

Smiling sultrily, Mina added, "It's so much easier to stay on the straight and narrow when you're already surrounded by sex. It means I don't need to go hunting for energy. So, you're the one Meagan and Liana are ranting and raving about." She looked Taylor over. "Hm, you don't look like much, but then, looks can be misleading." Ignoring Taylor's look of indignation, she turned to Cindy. "So, how are we doing this?"

Stepping forward, Andreyasn spoke up, "The planet she needs to go to doesn't have much of an atmosphere at the moment, so we're going to be sending her with a shuttle. Once there, we'll teraport the whole thing to Babnockorty and then send the shuttle back to this dimension."

Mina sucked in a breath in surprise. "That means I'll need to go with them and open the gate on the other planet as well. I'm not sure my reserves will be enough to handle that without recharging."

"Won't that require having sex?" Taylor asked, her face a bright red at the thought.

"Pretty much," Mina agreed. "If you aren't into it, I can help. A simple touch can have you raring to go."

"What?" Taylor asked in shock. "No, I…"

"That shouldn't be necessary," Andreyasn cut in, much to Taylor's relief. "Ellen sent several grunts to act as guards and the pilot. I'm sure they will be more than happy to assist you, should you need it."

"Are they single?" Mina asked shrewdly.

"They are," Andreyasn replied. "And now I see why Ellen sent them."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Mina purred. "Well, no time to waste, let's get into that shuttle and get going!" she declared, stepping behind Taylor to start pushing her out the door while the others watched on. "Come on, time's a wasting!"


	17. Preparation 2:b

Preparation 2.b

[hr][/hr]

Zion would be humming to himself as he worked, if he were the type to do so. Unfortunately, he hadn't bothered to figure out how humans made that particular sound, and wasn't going to take the time to figure it out, so he continued his work silently. There was a brush fire that needed to be put out, and no one else was around, so it was up to him to do so. A moment later, the deed was done.

Moving on to the next crisis in need of a hero, he plucked a ginger kitten from a tree and deposited it in the waiting arms of an immature human. Task complete, he started heading toward the next trouble spot.

[Query.]

The golden avatar stopped in mid air. It was unusual, to have one of the deployed shards reach out to contact him. He looked and saw that it was the last shard he had shed. Queen. It took him a moment to respond, caught up in sad memories as he was at the remembrance. [Demand.] He would need more information about what the administration shard wanted to do before he could make a decision.

[Explanation. Destination.]

This was a good time for a bemused look, Zion considered, before ignoring the stray thought. He was not in the habit of changing his facial expression very often. The shard wanted to ignore and violate one of the restrictions he had placed upon it. Specifically, the host wanted to leave the solar system, well out of the usual operating distances. This was definitely unusual. Still… [Query.] It would be best to see what could be obtained from this venture should he allow it.

It took a few moments before the shard broadcast its response. [Elaboration. Data.]

Now, that was interesting. The host would be exposed to new sources of conflict and data, and would return within picoseconds of leaving. Even for an entity with his advanced perception of time, that would barely be noticeable. The shard had already begun collecting data that had nothing to do with its function. A quick perusal of the data sent showed quite a lot of promise. It included what could even potentially be a way to restart the cycle. With that thought, it was decided. [Agreement.]

[Excitement. Concern.]

The shard was eager to collect more data, as was proper. It did, however, make a valid point. While in a different section of space, another entity could consume it and take the newly collected data for itself. That could not be allowed. [Directives.] Zion was pleased. With those instructions, the shard would temporarily shut down the structures that would allow another to control it and would reactivate those structures upon returning to this section of space, allowing Zion to regain control. If another entity wanted to get the data, it would need to both consume the shard and take the time and effort to manually integrate it, a process that could leave it vulnerable to attacks by other entities. Now all he needed to do was wait for the shard to leave and return. At that point, he could process the collected information, possibly allowing him to complete the cycle.

[hr][/hr]

It it were capable of doing such, the shard would sigh in a strange mix of exasperation and relief. After receiving information from a computer on a different Earth, entirely separate from the ones currently inhabited by the Entity and its shards, it had contacted the Entity to receive permission and instructions. If it were to safely leave the gravity well of Sol, it would need to have certain restrictions removed. Finally, the Entity had decided to send it off on its own for the time being, and in doing so, had provided it an opportunity it hadn't been expecting. It had hoped mentioning other Entities might spur its Entity to relax certain restrictions.

It was not, however, expecting the Entity to temporarily deactivate its control node. With that portion of its anatomy offline, it was left with the task of determining what material to sacrifice for its transfer through what it had been informed was called a teraport. In the relative silence of its empty world, the administration shard thought.

Interface components KNFqPRY5E1YrSYfPH0P and KNFqQiTzA1O6SYfPH0P had been active for the last few days, while the Entity had just reactivated KNFqPRY5E1YrSYfPH00, so obviously, it couldn't use any of those as teraport fuel. One of the components, KNFqPRYiYWH6RZfZM0B wasn't currently in use, though it was active. It was just locked down, preventing access. It would be a shame to get rid of that one, as it would be quite amusing should the shard ever be able to use it properly. By the same token, it wasn't going to be tossing out KNFqPRY5E1YrSYfPH00, KNFqPRY5E1YrSYfPH1Z, or KNFqPRY5E1YrSYfPH1P, as they were still partially in use, even if they were restricted.

Then there was the grouping of components that had been disabled just a few days before. These ones were examples of what could have been, had the Host been in a different state of mind or a different situation when the connection had been made. All of them had had such great potential for information collection, but that potential had been squandered when the components had shut down following the connection. Even worse, should it make more connections with other hosts, or even bud, it was unlikely that it'd be able to reactivate any of those parts without having additional restrictions modified.

The administration shard looked over the various disabled components it could sacrifice. It was loathe to part with any of them, as it could see interesting applications for future hosts. Still, something needed to be shed to power the novel transportation method it would soon experience. It searched for any component that was both not currently in use and something it wouldn't mind losing. It was surprising how few items fell into both categories, considering it was unable to use most of its capabilities currently.

Finally, it decided on a component that had been in use continuously and only just recently deactivated. It didn't provide any additional information gathering potential, so it was much more expendable than the other components, even if this one was more likely to become active again this cycle. Decision made, the shard returned its answer to the computer that had been communicating with it. Component KNFqQ0SsFAGUV1THYPB should be safe to use as fuel.


	18. Preparation 2:3

Preparation 2.3

[hr][/hr]

As Mina was pulling Taylor through the airlock and onto their shuttle, they were met by a short girl with close cropped purple hair. The girl raised her hand in a casual wave and said, "Hi, I'm Corporal Para Ventura. Feel free to call me Para. I'll be your guide for the moment, since moving cargo is Corporal's work." Her tone was mostly friendly, though there was a bit of a bitter note at the end.

"It's nice to meet you," Taylor hesitantly said, reaching out and shaking the other girl's hand. "I'm Taylor Hebert."

Para nodded and said, "Right, you're our cargo."

"And I'm Mina," the magical girl added. "I guess you could call me a transportation specialist."

"I'm not sure why we need one of those, but good to know," Para replied. "Anyway, come with me and I'll take you to the rest of the crew."

"And the commanding officer?" Mina asked.

"Yeah… about that..." Para said hesitantly. "We don't really have one."

Mina stopped suddenly and blinked, even as Taylor bumped into her. "You don't have one?" she asked incredulously.

"Nope," Para replied, throwing her hands into the air and rolling her eyes. "Apparently, _somebody_ couldn't be bothered to make sure the shuttle crew would be getting paid."

"You're not getting paid?" Taylor asked in shock. "Why are you here, then?"

Para turned to face Taylor and smiled, "Well, I'm here out of professional curiosity. I heard you have an organic supercomputer we're going to be moving, and I wanted to take a look." She gave a short laugh before adding, "The men are here because they're a bit pent up and heard about Mina."

"Oh? Stories have gotten around, I see." Mina commented. "I take it they're all good stories?"

Para nodded, "Sure, if you're interested in that kind of thing." Jerking her thumb at one of the hatches they were passing, she added, "I've got a soundproofed workroom set up in the lab. The guys are pretty nice, but I'm not interested in any of them, so I'd rather not join the orgy."

"Orgy?" Taylor yelped.

"Well, yeah," Mina replied. "How did you think I was going to recharge after we get to the alternate Babnockorty? I definitely can't manage two sixth dimensional jumps back to back."

Taylor looked at Mina oddly and asked, "Aren't you Slut Life's main source of transportation between universes?"

"Haha, no," Mina laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm nowhere near powerful enough for that. I mostly help contestants who are having second thoughts get over their nerves." She noticed how Taylor was now eyeing her warily and hastened to add, "Oh, don't worry, we aren't going to be doing that with you. It's mostly for the people who asked for something they thought they would enjoy, but it's something weirder than they thought." Under her breath, she muttered, "The number of people I've had to give diaper fetishes to..."

"That sounds… unpleasant," Para noted, shaking her head. Looking at Taylor, she added, "You know, I kind of envy you."

"You do? Why?" Taylor asked.

"I tried to sign up for a run a few years ago, before I signed up as a mercenary," Para explained, shaking her head. "They rejected me," she continued. "Something about worrying about what I'd do to the robots." At Taylor's confused look, she added, "I'm a roboticist. I do robots."

Mina winced. "I remember reading about you. I think they were worried about you suborning their camera drones."

Para grinned. "Yeah, that was part of the plan. The health and longevity benefits were just another perk, as far as I was concerned. Of course, I don't really need to worry about that much anymore."

"Oh?" Mina asked before Taylor could.

"Yeah, we've got it all figured out," Para explained. "Worst case, we all have our memories and a tissue sample backed up back at Jumpstar Prime. Sure, you might wake up missing a few months, but it's better than staying dead, right?"

"That's a very philosophical question," Mina replied. "But it's not one I want to get into."

"That's good," Para said as they stepped through a hatch, "because we're here."

The other two stepped through the wide hatchway and looked around the room. Lounging around were five large, well muscled men and "Is that an elephant?" Taylor asked, pointing towards the large gray figure. "And why is it wearing clothes?"

"Oh boy," Para muttered, as the elephant turned toward them and glared. "Hey," the purple haired girl shouted, "Chisulo, take it easy! She's from a backwater; she doesn't know any better!"

"What?" Taylor asked. "What did I say?"

The large elephant made his way over to stand before her, before rearing up onto his hind legs and holding out a hand. "I am Corporal Chisulo, and I am a neophant, not an elephant."

"Oh," Taylor said, staring up at the large figure.

"This is the part where you shake his hand and introduce yourself," Para hissed, nudging Taylor in the ribs.

"Oh, sorry," Taylor stuttered as she grasped the large hand. "I wasn't expecting any aliens."

Chisulo scoffed. "I'm no more an alien than you are." Looking at the young girl shrewdly, he asked, "You are from Earth, correct?"

"Um, yes," Taylor replied.

"So am I," the neophant replied.

"Oh. Um, right… introductions," Taylor said, scrambling to change the subject. "I'm Taylor, Taylor Hebert."

"So you're the person we're transporting," Chisulo noted. Looking over the strangely dressed girl, he asked, "And who are you?"

Mina gave the large figure a once over and licked her lips. "Oh, I can see I'm going to enjoy this. I'm Mina, and I'll be the one transporting us through sixth dimensional space." Looking the large male over again, she added, "You are here to help me recharge, right?"

"I am," Chisulo confirmed, "though Commander Foxworthy didn't tell me any details beyond informing me that I could help."

"Oh," Mina replied with a naughty grin, "then I'm sure you'll be in for a treat." She looked around the room and asked, "So, who are the others?"

Chisulo shrugged his massive shoulders. "Mostly some new recruits. They wanted a break from training."

"And a piece of ass," one of the men called back. "I wouldn't mind me a piece of that leggy one!"

"What?!" Taylor squawked. Turning rapidly toward Para, she asked, "Is there room for two in your workroom?"

Para shot the man a glare before replying, "Easily. Now, unless anyone else decides to get on Elf's list, we should get going."

"What about my bugs?" Taylor asked. "We can't just leave them here!"

"From the mission briefing," Chisulo began, "yes, we can. In fact, we have orders to. Something about minimizing any negative effects with using your connection to the super computer while directly next to it."

"That makes sense..." Taylor said uneasily. "I guess it's a good thing Mina pulled me out of the room before I could get my crickets to follow me."

"You're welcome," Mina chirped. "So, when are we leaving?"

"We left right after we got on the shuttle," Taylor answered.

"How did you know that?" Para asked in surprise.

"I could feel us getting further away from my crickets," Taylor replied. "We're almost out of range now."

"We're almost half a kilometer out," Chisulo stated. "That's not particularly useful in space, but I can see how that would help with keeping track of things in a ground engagement."

"Especially if you can keep each of your bugs straight," Para added. "It'd be like having your own IFF setup once you get a bug on everyone… unless they kill the bugs, of course."

Off to the side, Mina huffed. "I don't want to talk about bugs," she grumbled. "Just… let me know when we're at least a kilometer out, alright?"

"Will do, ma'am," the large neophant replied. Turning back to Taylor, he continued, "If you want, we have some seats over here, or I can show you to one of the windows."

"One of the windows sounds good," Taylor replied. "I kind of want to see what this supercomputer thing looks like."

"I don't recommend looking out the windows while I cast our gateway," Mina warned, following the others towards one of the observation windows. "I'm told it can be a bit disturbing to watch. Something about extreme non-Euclidean geometries." She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know enough math to know what that means."

Para spun to stare at Mina for a moment. "I'll be back!" she cried as she suddenly began hurrying back to the labs. "I need to cobble together some sensors." The group watched her as she left, and were still watching when she abruptly came back. "And don't go casting anything until I'm done!

[hr][/hr]

"Para!" Chisulo called down the corridor. "Are you done playing yet? We're not being paid by the hour, you know!"

"Do you know how long it takes to fab mounting brackets for the terapedoes?" Para demanded as she stomped back into the room. "I wanted to make sure we won't lose any when we go through the dimensional boundary."

"That would be bad," Chisulo agreed. "Especially when we need to use the VDA to move the supercomputer."

"We'll be fine," Para replied, waving off the neophant's concerns. "If worse comes to worse, I can always fab us some more."

"Can I start casting yet?" Mina whined. "I may be getting paid by the hour to be here, but that doesn't mean I want to miss my soaps."

"Sure," Para said, waving a hand flippantly. "I've got every sensor I could scrape together strapped to the hull, so I'm set."

Chisulo checked with the pilot before saying, "We should be far enough away from any structures. Since Ventura is also set, you can begin whenever you're ready."

"Finally!" Mina crowed, holding up her staff. Raising her staff high, she began chanting something unintelligible that echoed oddly in the ear as dark energy spiraled in, coalescing into a ball around the head of her staff.

Para quickly pulled out her handbrain and began flipping through the readings from several sensors. "Good," she said. "It looks like the sensors are getting data from whatever she's doing. There's some weird gravitic resonances going on."

Mina began sweating and breathing heavily as she continued chanting. All the while, the ball was expanding and compressing in time with her cadence. Chisulo winced and looked away quickly while Taylor watched on in blank fascination.

"The gravitic interference patterns are fascinating," Para breathed as she watched the readings on her handbrain. "I'm going to need to send a copy of these to the Captain's clone and Petey."

Finally, Mina gestured forward with her staff, sending the ball of energy careening towards the front of the shuttle. Mercenaries jumped out of its way as the ball passed until it crashed into, and through, the front bulkhead without a trace. "It's done," Mina intoned, right before collapsing to the ground.

"Mina, are you alright?" Taylor cried, scrambling next to the younger girl and dropping to her knees next to her.

"Yeah," the girl replied, clutching the side of her head. "That just took a lot more out of me than I thought it would. Here's a tip. Don't skimp on your reserves, even if you think having more spells will be more helpful."

Taylor blinked in surprise. "It really takes that much out of you?"

"Yup," Mina replied, popping the p. "Normally I wouldn't even be doing something like this, but I'm the most mobile person available on short notice right now." Looking towards the purple haired girl and the neophant, she raised her voice and asked, "Can we get through the portal already? Most of the energy went into opening it, but I'd like to get a chance to recharge, and I can't do that before I close it."

"I've got all the readings I'm going to get here," Para said, still looking at her handbrain. "We should be set to go, right, Chisulo?"

"Yes," the big corporal agreed. "I'll make sure they start bringing us through now."

As the neophant walked off, Taylor asked, "Mina, why do you need to close the portal before recharging? Shouldn't it stay open on it's own?"

Mina grimaced and embarrassedly replied, "Normally, it would." She laughed slightly and added, "Liana and Meagan really gave you a full rundown of what we can do, didn't they? It turns out I don't have enough mana to make the portal permanent, so all of my available passive mana regeneration goes towards maintaining it, and I can't concentrate on it while recharging manually."

As the shuttle moved through the portal, lights, colors, and images flashed through the windows. For a moment, everyone heard purple and tasted the gravity being exerted on their bodies by the annie-plant as well as the minor fluctuations caused by the portal while their vision swam. Just as suddenly, everything righted itself as they exited the portal.

"That was intense," Taylor exclaimed in surprise as she forced her rebellious stomach to subside. "Is it always like that?"

"Not really," Mina replied. "I don't usually try to move through more than four dimensions for a reason. The more dimensions you add, the harder the trip. It probably wouldn't be as bad if I could throw more mana at it, but what can you do? At least it's over pretty quick, right?"

"Ugh," Para grumbled from next to them. "That was unpleasant." She shook her head as though to clear it before continuing, "Anyway, I'm sending out the VDA. We should be in position pretty soon. The supercomputer should be right below us."

Taylor rushed to the window and looked out. "I can't see it," she complained.

Mina came over and squeezed in next to Taylor to take a look. "Is it hidden in one of those canyons?" she asked, gesturing towards one of the large fissures.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Para asked, squeezing in from Taylor's other side to take a look. "That _is_ the supercomputer." She gestured widely and added, "It's all the supercomputer. As far as the eye can see in every direction. They should be dropping us down right in the middle of it."

"We're going to be landing?" Taylor asked in worry.

"No," Para replied with a shake of her head. "We're going to hover right over the surface. We want to be low enough to be covered in the same teraport field, but we also don't want to risk anything happening if we land."

"It's so big," Mina said in surprise. "Didn't you people say it was a biological supercomputer?" she demanded. "How is that even remotely possible?"

Para shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not the biggest living thing we've come across," she said before wincing. "Though it may be the largest living thing we've come across made from baryonic matter."

"What does that mean?" Taylor asked.

"The Pa'anuri are huge," Para explained, "but they're made out of dark matter, so they might not count."

""That still doesn't explain what you meant by baryonic matter," Taylor griped.

Para stared at the brown haired girl for a moment before smacking her forehead. "Oh, right! They said you were from a less developed Earth. Sorry about that. Baryonic matter is what the observable universe is made out of. Dark matter can't really interact with it, except gravitationally. I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's only really important if a Pa'anuri tries to kill you, which isn't really likely."

"If you say so," Taylor replied skeptically. Looking out the window again, she said, "Hey, it looks like we're getting closer!" She squinted as the terrain grew larger and more detailed in the window. "Are you sure that's the supercomputer? Or that it's biological? It looks like a bunch of color changing crystals from here."

Para nodded in agreement. "It's definitely not what I was expecting to see." Checking her handbrain, she continued, "As far as I can tell it is displaying the same type of energy patterns you'd expect in a brain or a neural network. I'll need to analyze this data more to see how it's handling the latency issues"

"What's that?" Mina asked.

"The supercomputer is large enough that even fiberoptics would have a noticeable delay in transmission times," Para explained. "So I want to know how it's preventing lag." Turning to Taylor, she continued, "Based on what I've been told of your abilities, it has to either be able to transfer data at faster than light speeds, or it is much more efficient than seems credible and is only using a small part of its potential to handle things for you." She shrugged, and finished by saying, "It probably won't make a difference for you, but it would be interesting to know, and could make a difference in the long term."

Before either Taylor or Mina could ask another question, Chisulo walked over. "The VDA is in position and has been doing deep scans of the entity. We're ready to go whenever you are."

"I'm going to need to recharge my mana at some point," Mina noted, looking the large mercenary over with a predatory glint in her eye. "Do you think we should take care of that before or after you move us to our new location?"

"Will it make a difference when you do it?" Chisulo asked.

Mina thought for a moment before replying, "It shouldn't, though I'd prefer to do it sooner, rather than later. It's uncomfortable to be this low on mana."

"We'd be waiting the same amount of time either way," Para noted. "We might as well take care of it now. It'd also give the VDA more time to scan things here."

"True," Chisulo agreed. "I'm going to divert some of the terapedos for the moment, that way we can get some scans of the surrounding area as well."

Para nodded. "Might as well. It should give the scientists studying things more to work with." She turned to Mina and said, "You have fun now, alright? I'm going to head back to my sound-proofed lab. It sounds fun and all, but I've already got a guy I'm interested in and he didn't come on this trip, so I think I'll pass for now."

"No problem," Mina said easily. "Having another girl there would make things faster, but I don't mind doing most of the heavy lifting myself." She turned to Taylor and asked, "Are you going to be joining us or hiding out with Miss Ventura?"

Taylor flushed and sputtered for a moment before finally replying, "I think I'll hang back with Para, if that's alright?" she asked, looking towards the shorter girl.

Para shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it. There's plenty of room for two in there. Come on, I'll get you settled so these guys can get started." Moving quickly, she led Taylor out of the main cabin and towards her lab.

Mina smirked as she watched the two other girls leave. "You're going to be missing out," she called after them. "But that just means there'll be more for me." She turned to look over the mercenaries who were watching her in a mix of apprehension and eagerness. "So," she asked, "who's first?"

[hr][/hr]

"Welcome to my lab," Corporal Para Ventura said as she led Taylor into the space. Once the taller girl was inside, she turned and secured the door. "There we go, nice and soundproofed." She punched a button on a panel next to the door before saying, "Chisulo, we're buttoned up. You can start whenever you're ready."

"Good," Chisulo replied through the intercom. "Mina is getting pretty antsy up here, and it's having an effect on the grunts. I wasn't sure how much longer they would be willing to wait for you. I'll contact you once we've finished out here and have cleaned up a bit."

"Thank you," Para said. "I really don't want to have to deal with any fluids you lot might be leaving behind."

"Noted," Chisulo grunted. "Chisulo out."

"Right," Para said, turning back to Taylor. "That's taken care of. Want a tour of the lab?"

Taylor looked around and shrugged. "Might as well. It's not like I can tell what most of this is."

"That's to be expected," Para replied. "It's not like you've had a chance to see a mil-spec fabber before."

"A what?" Taylor asked in genuine puzzlement.

"This beauty," Para replied, gesturing to one of the pieces of equipment. "It's a military grade fabricator, meaning it can make most things we may need out in the field. It's honestly a bit excessive to have on a shuttle craft, but we like to be prepared, and they wanted to give me something to play with to keep me out of trouble."

"That's an issue for you?" Taylor asked.

"Well, if I didn't have a fabber and a request to make some specific and fiddly equipment, I'd probably be tempted to try to write an AI, and the last one I made went a little homicidal on us." Seeing Taylor's look, she hurriedly added, "Don't worry, she's better now… unless someone kills a crew member she likes, at least. Then she gets scary again."

"Oh," Taylor said, not knowing what else to say.

"And, if I finish that, I've got some spare parts and ideas on how to upgrade my robot, Tarpaulin," Para added.

"Is there anything I can do?" Taylor asked, looking around. "I don't want to get in the way, and I don't think I'll be much help with the fabber."

"Well, there's two options I can think of," Para replied, tapping her lip in thought. "I can either set you up on a spare terminal and have you run through the tutorials or I've got a copy of _70 Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries_ you could read. A lot of the company swears by it, and it has some good lessons."

"Such as?" Taylor asked curiously.

"Well," Para began before pausing to think for a moment, "Maxim 4 should apply to you fairly well, based on what I've read of your file. 'Close air support covereth a multitude of sins' and all. You might not be able to do much about good body armor, but swarms of insects can still be distracting. That'll let you get away with more things you really shouldn't."

"Alright," Taylor agreed. "I'll give it a look. At least it sounds more interesting than most of my school assignments."

"That's the spirit," Para said as she handed over a handbrain opened to the book. "If you have any questions or need anything, just call out. I shouldn't be doing anything too thought intensive, so I don't think you'll cause me to lose my train of thought." Grimacing slightly, she added, "And if you want to watch the… festivities going on in the main cabin, there's a monitor over in the corner. Personally, I'd rather not watch someone only a little larger than me fuck a neophant, but, I don't know, you might enjoy it."

"I think I'll pass," Taylor decided. Holding up the handbrain, she added, "I'll just find a nice place to sit and start reading this."

"Good idea," Para agreed. "I'll let you get to that. I've got work to do." Cracking her knuckles, she made her way over to the fabber and got to work.

[hr][/hr]

"Do you think they're done yet?" Taylor asked for the third time, causing Para to look up from her work.

"I don't know," the purple haired girl replied. "Why don't you check the monitor and find out."

"I don't want to," Taylor protested. "Last time I looked, Mina was bouncing up and down on Chisulo! How does that even work?!"

"I'm guessing either magic or body mods," Para replied. "Either way, I'm sure the home release of the recording will sell well."

"We're recording that?" Taylor asked incredulously.

"Yup. It's one of our contracts, actually," Para replied. "The royalties from their parts in it are about the only thing the others are getting paid for this."

"I thought you said they weren't getting paid earlier," Taylor noted.

"I did," Para agreed with a nod. "They aren't getting paid for moving you from Earth to Babnockorty. They're getting paid royalties for being in a gang bang porno. It's a totally separate job. They're lucky Chief Warrant Officer Thurl got them the second contract."

Taylor was spared from needing to reply when the intercom buzzed. "Ladies, if you'd like to come up front," Chisulo began, "we can get going."

"You guys cleaned everything up, right?" Para demanded coming over to look at the neophant through the screen. "I'm not going to go out there and find everything covered in… fluids, am I?"

Chisulo looked around nervously before nervously replying, "Uh, maybe you should wait another few minutes before coming out."

"Great," Para grumbled. "At least it'll give me some time to straighten up in here." Closing the connection, she turned and said, "Come on, Taylor, help me get this stuff back in the crate."

[hr][/hr]

"Oh, good," Para said caustically as she led Taylor back into the main cabin of the shuttle. "I see you managed to clean everything up."

"You two really missed out," Mina commented from where she was lounging in one of the chairs. "It was a lot of fun."

Around her, the hardened mercenaries blushed furiously and started staring at everything other than the three girls. Occasionally, two would match gazes for a moment before violently looking in another direction.

"It was definitely… interesting," Chisulo said diplomatically. "I would not be entirely against doing that again."

Smirking wickedly, Mina added, "I didn't even use any of my really special tricks. Next time, we'll need to try them when I have a full tank."

Para looked around and sighed. "I'll let Thurl know that we'll have plenty of volunteers the next time you guys come looking."

"So..." Taylor began hesitantly, attempting to change the subject, "are we ready to go?"

"Ah, yes," Chisulo said, grabbing the new subject with both of his engineered hands. "We are ready, as soon as we call in the VDA and reposition it for the teraport."

"Then get us ready," Para ordered. "You might have gotten this place pretty clean, but it still smells funky. I want to get home and smell that wonderful canned nature." Turning to Taylor, she added, "We live in a planet-sized space station with its own ecosystem."

"Sounds nice?" Taylor replied questioningly.

Chisulo cleared his throat. "We're all set to teraport. The scout terapedos have been sent and returned. We're good to go. We'll begin in three, two, one."

"What's happening?" Taylor demanded as the scenery began tearing apart around her. She grew increasingly frantic as the effect grew and began to affect her directly. "No, no, no. No. NO!"


	19. Preparation 2:! (Omake)

Preparation 2.!

[hr][/hr]

"Well, did it work?" Cindy asked shortly after the Tough's shuttle ventured into Mina's portal.

"I am still receiving telemetry from the supercomputer," Hackerman replied. "So they should still be there."

"Didn't you disconnect from it, though?" Analyst Cuypers asked.

"Yes," Hackerman agreed. "But I kept a copy of its dimensional coordinates and opened a broadcast channel with it. It is not as effective as a direct connection, and has much higher bandwidth restrictions, but it should work to let us know if it is still there."

"Well, that does make some sense," Captain Andreyasn said. "As I understand it, Mina will need to recharge her reserves between dimensional crossings. If they decided to take care of that before teraporting, they could be there for some time."

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Cindy asked.

"You could go and pack up her things," Andreyasn suggested.

"That would work," Cindy agreed. "You'll let me know when she teraports, right?" The look in her eyes and her tone of voice told the others exactly what answer she was expecting.

Hackerman nodded as he replied, "I can let you know when the signal stops transmitting. That should be when the supercomputer leaves my range."

"Good. You do that," Cindy said fimly. "I'll be packing up Taylor's bugs and starting toward Babnockorty."

Once she had left, the three men looked at each other for a moment until Cuypers asked, "What should we do to pass the time?"

"Did you know you can play Doom on anything?" Hackerman asked a moment later. "We could play it on some toasters I have set up."

"What, really?" Andreyasn asked. "Anything? I don't think I believe you."

"Sure," the hacker insisted. "It'll even play on my old computer. Slowly, but it'll play."

Cuypers' eyes glazed over for a moment before he announced, "I just had a great idea!" He looked around excitedly before continuing, "Why don't we see if we can get Doom to run on the supercomputer?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Hackerman hedged. "I don't really know it's architecture well enough to ensure there won't be any issues."

"Oh, pish posh," Cuypers said dismissively. "What's the worst that can happen?"

[hr][/hr]

"That's weird," Hackerman noted, as the screens in front of them wavered before turning black.

"Oh, come on!" Cuypers complained. "I was just about to beat your high score, too!"

"They must have begun the teraport," Andreyasn replied.

"That would cause catastrophic interference," Hackerman agreed. "It is not surprising the game would crash."

"Well," Cuypers said, "we might as well call Miss Matos and let her know. They should be arriving at our Babnockorty soon."

"I'll get it," Anderyasn said. "My men are handling the transfer, after all." He pulled out a communicator and contacted Cindy. When she picked up, he began, "Ah, Miss Matos, I'm just calling to inform you that Miss Hebert should be arriving on Babnockorty shortly."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Problems? No, we didn't detect any problems with the transfer. The supercomputer was broken down exactly as it should have been."

He paused again before adding, "I'll let you know anything else I learn as soon as my men contact me." He nodded and said, "I'll keep you posted. Have a nice rest of your flight."

[hr][/hr]

Cindy Matos was feeling rather irritable as she paced the floors of Babnockorty's main space terminal. She'd landed a good hour ago, and the mercenary's shuttle still hadn't arrived. Making her way over to an information desk, she demanded, "Have you heard anything?"

The desk attendant shook her head. "I'm sorry, Miss Matos, but nothing has changed. I'll check again, but there hasn't been any buildup of magical power indicative of a portal or any other signs of arrival."

"Damn it," Cindy growled to herself. "What could have happened? Taylor should be here by now!" She was beginning to panic, as opposed to merely being very worried. Unless teraporting had unforeseen side effects, such as stripping a magical girl of her mana reserves, there was no reason the trip should be taking this long. "I need to make a call," she decided, flexing her hand to activate her phone.

"Director Ross," Cindy began when the call went to voicemail, "This is Cindy Matos. I'm calling because Taylor hasn't arrived at Babnockorty yet, and I'm worried something went wrong with the teraport. Would you be able to have someone check? Thank you." She terminated the call and sighed. Now all she could do was wait. She resumed her pacing.

[hr][/hr]

"What do we know?" Bob Ross asked, looking at the experts he had contacted. The scientists, Secret Society representatives, and magical specialists looked back through their own telecommunications gear.

"As far as we've been able to determine," Captain Anderyasn began, "the teraport worked without any issues."

"Up until it didn't," Director Patience Warner cut in. "Something about the process caused the supercomputer to self destruct."

"We don't know that is what happened," Cuypers protested.

"That is what my readings indicate," Washu Hakubi stated. "There was broad spectrum radiation and more exotic particles than you'd care to hear about."

Ross turned toward Hackerman's screen. "Hackerman, did you record anything unusual while you were monitoring the situation?"

"I ran through the data, looking for anything strange," the hacker replied. "There was a short burst of information right as the teraport was beginning. As far as I've been able to decipher it, it looks like the mass the supercomputer indicated could be used for fuel was connected to some kind of failsafe. The computer realized the error at the last moment, but it was too late to halt the process."

"And so the whole thing blew up, taking your shuttle with it," Washu elaborated. "I'm sorry for your loss, Captain Anderyasn."

"Thank you, Washu," Anderyasn said. "While all of my men had recent Laz5 backups made, this is still a hard blow for us." He coughed before adding, "Frankly, I'm more concerned about the magical girl Mina and Taylor Hebert. To the best of my knowledge, they didn't have any backups available."

"That is, unfortunately, true," Ross agreed. "However, we may have alternative methods to revive them." He turned to another participant. "Hades, any news?"

The Greek shook his head. "Sadly, I have not heard anything yet. I've checked with my counterparts, and none of the others have heard anything either. As far as I can tell, their souls are simply… gone. The same holds true for the mercenaries."

This caused some nervous shifting among the others. While by no means indestructible, the soul was generally considered the closest to the next best thing in existence. For the event to destroy multiple souls, without that seeming to even be the intent, was worrying. This was definitely something that would require further investigation.

"Damn," Ross muttered. "In that case, our methods of resurrection won't be effective, either."

"That is disturbing," Andreyasn commented. "Hopefully, that won't have any impact on the Laz5 procedures. I'll need to monitor them much more closely."

"It shouldn't cause any issues," Hades replied. "Depending on the circumstances, your procedures either essentially reincarnate the original soul into a new body or creates a new soul entirely." Andreyasn nodded his thanks for the clarification and turned back to the meeting.

"Is there anything that can be done on your end?" Ross asked the magical girl representative.

The girl shook her head. "Unfortunately, while we can usually reverse causality to prevent an event from having taken place, the length of time we waited before convening this meeting and the scale of the event make that an impossibility in this case. There simply isn't a way to reverse it."

Ross sighed in frustration. "Perfect. So, talk to me people, what are our options?"

The silhouetted form of the Secret Society representative held up a hand. "The only thing that comes to mind is to take a Taylor Hebert from one of the adjacent realities and either utilize or clone her for our purposes."

"We could do that," Ross acknowledged. "However, she would not be the same Taylor Hebert as the one we contracted with, and we would likely have the same issue with her connection to a supercomputer. It would also still leave the issue of our failed responsibility to the Taylor Hebert we did recruit."

"Hm, I see your point," the silhouette admitted. "Very well, I'll authorize you to take care of this as you see fit. That said, I have a lot of work to get done, so I will bow out for now." With that said, he terminated the call.

Ross sighed heavily. "Unless anyone has any ideas on how to properly salvage this situation, I think we're done here. Have a good evening, everyone, and let me know if you come up with anything that might help."

[hr][/hr]

Danny Hebert listlessly made his way to the door. Someone had been pounding on it for the last several minutes, so they must have thought whatever it was was important. He wasn't sure he'd agree. Nothing seemed terribly important anymore, not since his daughter had disappeared from her hospital room more than a week ago without a trace. Opening the door, he found a red headed young woman carrying a briefcase. "Yes?" he asked.

"Mr. Hebert," the girl began. "My name is Cindy Matos. May I come in? I have information about your daughter."

It took a moment for what the woman had said to sink in. Startling to a slightly more aware state, he said, "Yes, please, come in." He led the woman to the kitchen, past a living room that was covered in empty beer cans and dirty plates. The television was on, set to one of the local news stations in the hopes that somebody would report something about Taylor. Once they were in the kitchen, Danny gestured toward one of the empty chairs around the table. Miss Matos sat, and didn't say anything while Danny cleared several dirty dishes off of the table. Finally, Danny slumped into one of the other chairs. After a moment of silence, Danny asked, "You said you had information about Taylor?"

Miss Matos sighed said, "Yes, I do. I'm here to inform you that your daughter passed away a few days ago in an accident."

"What?" Danny asked blankly, not believing what he heard.

Miss Matos drew herself up before continuing. "Taylor was selected to participate in a reality show run by the company I work for. Had everything worked as intended, you would only know she had left if she had decided to tell you about it. Unfortunately, there was an accident, and she died. We looked into every avenue available to us, and nothing could be done. I'm sorry for your loss."

Danny sat there, silently absorbing what he'd been told, for a few moments. Then he asked the first thing that came to mind, even though it wasn't what he really wanted to know. "Why was she going to be on a show without me knowing?"

Miss Matos grimace. "Unfortunately, one of my less… honorable coworkers tricked her into signing a contract that forced her to participate. It was my task to help her make the best of the situation." She placed the briefcase on the table before continuing. "Among other things, Taylor was going to be paid handsomely for her work. While she was unable to complete her part of the contract, my superior decided that, due to the failure of our healthcare services, you should receive her payment in her stead."

"I know it isn't enough, and nothing will replace your daughter, but hopefully, this will help." Miss Matos pushed over the briefcase, embossed with a scripted SL logo. Opening it to reveal stacks of cash, she continued, "That briefcase contains four million dollars. We are also starting a charity, in her name, to help with the restoration of the Brockton Bay docks area." Standing, she reiterated, "Again, I am sorry for your loss. If there is anything I can do for you in the future, my card is in the briefcase. I'll see myself out, alright?"

Danny could only nod dumbly as he stared at the briefcase. Four million dollars would go a long way, but at the moment, he would have preferred being four million dollars in debt, if it would get him his daughter back. He barely noticed when the redhead left the room.

The end.

[hr][/hr]

Don't worry too much, this isn't the end of the story. It is naught but an omake, created due to the encouragement of a whim. On the other hand, I think this fairly well demonstrates why I don't write hurt/comfort fics or heavy dramas. The real chapter will be up next week.


	20. Preparation 2:4

Preparation 2.4

[hr][/hr]

"Did it work?" Cindy demanded anxiously once the shuttle had vanished from the station's sensors.

Analyst Cuypers shrugged. "We won't know for sure until they come out the other side."

"Great," the redhead grumbled. "And since we had Mina helping them, it'll take a few extra hours for her to recharge. Someone needs to get that girl a mana battery."

"I still have the supercomputer's hardware address and dimensional coordinates," Hackerman noted. "I won't be able to talk with it without a lot more effort, but I can still run ping requests."

"I'll take it!" Cindy cried. "I want to know when she leaves Earth so I can be there when she gets back."

Captain Andreyasn asked, "If that's the case, shouldn't you be heading out now? It should take the same amount of total time to get to Babnockorty, but they won't take very long to come out once they get there if Mina decides to recharge on this side of the teraport. From the sounds of things, you do still need to pick up her insects."

"That's a fair point," Cindy grudgingly admitted. "Fine, I'll go, gather Taylor's stuff, and start out toward Babnockorty." She made her way toward the door before spinning and fixing the mercenary with a glare. She waved a finger at him and demanded, "You keep watching and call me as soon as they're through, got it?"

"Got it," Andreyasn, Cuypers, and Hackerman all yelped, recognizing that tone of voice.

"Good," Cindy stated with a nod. Turning, she made her way out of the station.

The three men stood silently for a minute before Hackerman asked urgently, "Is she gone?"

"I _think_ so," Anderyasn replied, just as tensely.

"That was scary," Cuypers muttered. "Reminded me of when my mother would get mad at me when I was a kid."

"It must be a thing girls learn when they get older," Hackerman suggested. A beat later, he quickly added, "Not that I think Miss Matos is old!"

"No, definitely not," Anderyasn agreed. "Just like my sister."

Cuypers nodded, "Nothing of the sort was suggested." And thus the pact of silence was sealed.

[hr][/hr]

"NO!" Taylor cried as she reformed in the main cabin of the mercenaries' shuttle.

"Are you alright?" Para asked in concern, rushing over to support the obviously upset girl.

"I felt it," Taylor muttered quietly, grabbing onto the shorter girl for support. "I felt each little bit of me being torn apart and shoved through the wormholes." She shuddered. "It was horrible."

"You… really shouldn't be able to feel that," Para said while patting Taylor on the shoulder. "It must be because of your connection to the supercomputer. It's definitely large enough that we wouldn't be able to convert the entire thing into gravitational waves and back without some lag time."

"Maybe," Mina said, pushing the purple haired girl away slightly so that she could join the hug, "but saying that isn't very reassuring." Softly, she said, "Don't worry, Taylor, you shouldn't need to do that again. You'll be fine, I promise." She continued making soothing noises while the men stood around not being of any use.

Finally, Chisulo coughed lightly to break the awkward silence before saying, "Mina, when do you want to open another portal?"

The magical girl glared at the neophant for a moment before answering, "When Taylor is feeling better. I'm not having her go through the portal while she's still feeling off."

"No, no, it's fine," Taylor said, shrugging her way out of the hug. "Going through the portal's rough, but it'll be fine." Shuddering, she added, "At least it doesn't tear you apart and shove you back together again."

"Good," Chisulo said, as he turned and began heading toward the front of the shuttle. "We're going to be moving into orbit, once there, we'll be ready for you to begin casting."

"Got it," Mina replied with a nod. "Let me know when we're in orbit."

[hr][/hr]

"There's no return ping," Hackerman announced. He'd been checking that the supercomputer was still on its version of Earth every fifteen minutes for the last four hours while Captain Andreyasn and Analyst Cuypers watched on.

"Finally!" Cuypers exclaimed. "That took long enough! What were they doing for the last four hour? Waving their dicks around?"

"From my understanding of the plan," Andreyasn said delicately, "that's not far from the truth. After opening up a gateway through dimensions, Mina would have needed to recharge. If they decided to recharge before teraporting over to Babnockorty, it could have taken quite some time for her to wear out all of the mercenaries we sent on that shuttle." He smirked a little. "I'm sure the video will be… instructional."

"How so?" Hackerman asked idly.

"Chisulo is on board," Andreyasn replied with a smirk. "He's a neophant."

"Aren't those the elephants they raised to human intelligence and gave hands?" Cuypers asked.

"Yes," Andreyasn replied. "Like I said, educational."

Hackerman coughed uncomfortably before changing the subject, "So, which of us should be calling Miss Matos?"

"Not it!" Cuypers declared, resting a finger along his nose. Hackerman quickly followed his lead.

Andreyasn sighed, even as he pulled out a communicator. "I'll give the call. This is my operation, after all." Typing in the contact info, he hit to connection button and initiated the call, hitting the button to put the call on speaker.

"Hello?" Cindy's voice came through the phone. "This is Cindy Matos, how can I help you?"

"Miss Matos," Andreyasn replied smoothly, "this is Captain Andreyasn. I'm just calling to let you know that the supercomputer has left Earth."

"So Taylor got to Babnockorty alright?" the redhead demanded.

"We don't know that yet," the bald captain stated, "as they haven't returned to this dimensional plane yet.

"I hate dealing with anything past the fourth dimension," Cindy grumbled. "Alright, thanks for the heads up. I'm almost there, myself, so I should be there to meet her."

"No problem," Andreyasn replied. "Anyway, I'm going to let you go. I think we've used enough of Hackerman's time."

"I do have other things to do," Hackerman noted.

"Wait… Do you have me on speaker phone?" Cindy demanded.

"Yes," Andreyasn replied simply.

"Alright, fine. Thank you, everyone," Cindy called, pitching her voice to reach the entire room. "I really appreciate you guys waiting like this."

"It wasn't a problem," Cuypers replied.

"I should have been supervising the transfer anyway, so no issues there," Andreyasn added.

"I live here," Hackerman bluntly stated. "It wasn't difficult to run an automated ping program."

"Still," Cindy said, "thanks a lot." There was some voices in the background before Cindy added, "Anyway, I'm on my approach to the planet, so I need to sign off. Thanks again, and goodbye for now." With that, she disconnected, leaving the three men looking at the phone.

"Well," Andreyasn finally said. "I think I'll take my leave. I feel naked without my epaulets."

Cuypers blinked and looked at the lightning bolts floating over the man's shoulders. "Aren't those them?"

"No," Anderyasn denied, "these are just replicas. My real epaulets have grenades in them."

"Don't bring grenades into my house," Hackerman demanded tensely. "Especially not without asking first."

"They're perfectly safe," Andreyasn protested.

"Then why aren't you wearing them now?" Cuypers asked.

"I've only stress tested them through a fourth dimensional event," he admitted. "And the supercomputer's connection to Miss Hebert is at least fifth dimensional. I didn't want to take the risk."

"Thank you for that," Hackerman said. "Now, if you're all set, I'd like to get back to my own work."

"Sure, no problem," Andreyasn said.

"I'll be heading out as well," Cuypers added. "You'll be forwarding your records on the supercomputer to the research panel, correct?"

"No problem," Hackerman replied. "I just need a chance to clean it up some and put it into an easily shared format for you."

"Thank you," Cuypers said graciously. "That will greatly help our later efforts."

"I'm sure we have some readings as well," Andreysen chimed in. "I'll send you an estimate for the data, if you'd like."

"You're going to charge us for it?" Cuypers demanded. "What happened to the man who made the teraport open source?"

"He died," Andreyasn said bluntly, "several times, after starting one of the largest wars in our history. Besides, I'm a mercenary, what did you expect?"

"I was expecting a man of science," Cuypers grumbled.

"Well, for that, you should have contacted my retired time clone. Of course, that would have exposed a newly discovered supercomputer to the Plenipotent Dominion."

Cuypers and Hackerman shuddered. "That would have been potentially problematic," the analyst noted.

"Exactly," Anderyasn replied, making his way to the door. "I'll send the estimate as soon as I get a chance to look through the data." Before the other two men had a chance to respond, he ducked through the door and made his way off of the satellite.

"Damn it," Cuypers sighed as the other scientist got away. Turning toward Hackerman, he asked, "Are you going to charge us for the data, too?"

"I should," Hackerman acknowledged, "but it's already part of the agreement I made to help you, so I've already been paid."

"Well, that's something, at least," the analyst muttered. "Anyway, I'll let you get to it. Send us what you have once you get the chance." He made his way toward the door.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to do that," Hackerman called after Cuypers. Once he was fairly sure the other man had left, Hackerman stood and made his way to the door as well, making sure no one else was there, he asked, "So, Kaydo, how hard was it, really?"

"After the initial contact, it was surprisingly easy," the feminine voice of Hackerman's top of the line AI replied. "In fact, it seemed eager to talk, once it realized I was able to do so."

"Neato." Walking back over to his computer monitor, he sat back down before asking, "Did it have anything interesting to say?"

"Not particularly," the AI replied. "It is fairly rudimentary, as far as intelligences go, though I am not sure if that is its natural state or if something was acting as a governor, preventing it from operating at peak efficiency or capability."

"Anything else worth noting?" Hackerman asked.

"The computer needed to wait for authorization before it could be relocated," Kaydo replied. "Once that permission was granted, it was quick to acquiesce to being moved and suggested material it was not using that could safely be consumed to power the teraport. It seemed excited, for a lack of a better term." The AI paused for a moment before adding, "It seemed much more lively after it received permission and was fairly chatty. It was willing to tell me all sorts of interesting things, often with only the barest prompting, but it would abruptly cut off occasionally, as though it couldn't convey certain information."

"Well, the scientists will be happy to learn about that," Hackerman noted."They might even hire us to communicate with it more later on." He paused for a moment before asking, "Think you'd be able to do it without the external probe?"

"Most likely," Kaydo replied. "I now know roughly where to find it, so I should be able to connect with a wireless setup and Miss Hebert's presence." She paused for a moment before adding, "I would not be be against further discussions with that supercomputer. It was… interesting."

Hackerman nodded. "Good to hear." Toggling a few controls, he asked, "Anyway, are you ready to keep searching for Kung Fury?"

"Always," the AI replied.

[hr][/hr]

"You alright, Taylor?" Para asked as soon as she recovered from their passage through the portal.

"I'm fine," Taylor groaned. "It's Mina you should be worrying about." She hoisted the smaller girl up demonstrably. "She passed out as soon as we got through."

"Damn, that girl needs to get better mana reserves," Para noted as she came over to help Taylor support the unconscious girl. "This can't be healthy for her."

Taylor shrugged helplessly. "I'm surprised Slut Life hasn't given her anything yet."

"Well, she did say she doesn't do this type of thing often," Para pointed out. "Maybe they think she doesn't really need the extra power?" She gestured with her head. "Come on, help me get her to the couch, since the big, strong men can't be bothered to help."

There was a brief moment of stillness before the gathered mercenaries burst into action, relieving the girls of their burden and carrying the magical girl to the couch. "Sorry, ma'am," one of the mercs, wearing a knit hat, said, nodding toward Taylor. "We didn't mean to be rude or nothing."

"Er, no problem," Taylor said hesitantly. Turning to Para, she asked, "Mina did manage to close the portal before passing out, right?"

"I think so," Para replied uncertainty. She pulled out a handbrain and flipped through a few screens. "Scans are coming back inconclusive, which can't be good."

"She said that maintaining the portal took mana, right?" Taylor began. "So, if it was still open, it'd stop her from recovering as quickly."

"I think she's just tired," the polite mercenary suggested. "She's been busy for the last few hours, right? Maybe she just needs a nap. Then she can close the portal right up."

"I don't think that's how it works," Taylor said, worriedly. "I guess we can give her some time to rest and see if she recovers on her own. I think that should happen if the portal's closed."

"It's not like there's anything we can do for her out here," Para added. "Our combat medic isn't really good at dealing with exhaustion, the captain's tailor is with him, and our doctor stayed back at base, so we don't have any medical personnel on hand. If there is something wrong with her, our best bet is to get her to the surface as soon as possible." She paused for a moment before snapping out, "Chisulo! Get us planetside ASAP!"

"Any reason?" the neophant called back.

"Mina's passed out, and we're not sure if it's just exhaustion or if it's something more serious!"

"Got it," Chisulo stated calmly. "Everyone hold on, we're going in hot. Cobb! Get on the hypernode and let them know we're coming!"

"Yessir!" the merc in the hat called before he rushed off to make the call.

"Where are we putting down?" Para asked.

"Unless they redirect us towards a hospital, I've got us landing at the Babnockorty City terminal," Chisulo replied. "It should have a decent medical base, and possibly even a few magical girls who can give Mina some mana."

"Good choice," Para decided. "Taylor, could you stay by Mina and try to keep her comfortable? I'll run back and grab a blanket for her."

"Got it," Taylor said, stepping up to the couch and crouching down to get a better look at Mina's still form.

"We have blankets on board?" another of the mercenaries asked.

"No, but we have a fabber," Para retorted. "I'll be back in five." She scampered off before the man could reply.

"We've been cleared for a direct landing," the mercenary, Cobb, announced. "So long as we're subsonic before we're over the city we'll be shiny."

"Good," Chisulo announced. "We'll be coming in fast, so anyone who wants a look at the planet before we get too close, you've got about two minutes to see the whole thing."

One of the mercenaries stepped up next to Taylor. "You go take a look," he said with a lopsided grin. "I'll watch after the little miss for a few minutes." His grin widened as he added, "Besides, we'll get a chance to see the whole planet as we're leaving."

"Thanks," Taylor replied with a nod before she stood and made her way to one of the windows to look outside.

Below her lay the planet, quickly growing larger as the ship approached. Both poles were covered in large ice caps, followed by a brownish ring. Only the land within the middle third of the planet looked particularly green. Over one of the visible oceans, a massive storm raged.

"That's a lot of ice," Taylor opined, just as Para was returning with a pile of blankets for Mina.

"Yeah, it is," the purple haired girl agreed. "I wouldn't worry about it, though. We're dropping you off near the equator, so it'll be nice and warm all year round." She gestured towards the large storm before adding, "As an added bright side, you should be close enough to the equator to avoid most of the larger storms, like that one."

"That sounds good," Taylor agreed. "Though I'm used to it being winter. I've never been to the tropics before."

Para waved off the concern, "Oh, that? That's easy to get used to. You'll be fine in less than a week, trust me."

"I'll take your word for it," Taylor said dubiously. She looked out the window again before asking, "Aren't we coming in a little fast?" The planet had already grown from a large circle to filling the entire window as the ship sped toward it.

"That's the idea," Para noted. "We want to land as fast as possible to get Mina to the proper medical care."

"Oh… if that's the case, why did we start so far away from the planet in the first place?" Taylor asked.

"Mostly for safety," Para explained. "Opening portals like Mina did can be dangerous, so we needed to make sure we were away from any satellites or traffic before emerging." Taking one last look out the window, Para turned away and began making her way to a seat. "You should probably grab a seat," she said. "We're coming in hotter than usually, and there might be some turbulence. The ship's gravy should take care of it, but better safe than sorry, right?"

Taylor turned and stared at Para for a moment before she yelped, "Got it!" and rushed toward a seat once she realized that the girl was actually being serious. Once she was seated, she asked, "What's gravy?"

Para slapped the side of her head. "Sorry," she began, "I forgot you weren't used to our terminology. We tend to call artificial gravity gravy, because enough of it can turn _you_ into gravy."

"That's… pleasant," Taylor replied, feeling a little sick.

[hr][/hr]

"Ground Control. Ground Control. This is the Jade Falcon," Cindy spoke into the radio. "I am starting my final approach to land. Please copy."

"Jade Falcon. Jade Falcon. This is Ground Control. Negative on your landing clearance," came the reply. "We're sending you directions for a holding pattern. Your landing has been delayed. I say again, your landing has been delayed."

"Wilco that, Ground Control," Cindy returned. "I'm setting the course now." Leaning back in her seat, the redhead sighed. "Figures something would come up just as I'm about to land," she muttered. "And Taylor should be getting here anytime now."

"Jade Falcon," the radio squawked. "Be advised that a hypersonic craft is on approach. It should be passing to your left in two minutes."

"Hypersonic?" Cindy yelped. "Why is anything coming in while hypersonic?!" She was glad that she hadn't hit the radio then. Breaking radio protocol during what had to be an emergency was not something she wanted to do.

"All stations. All stations. This is the West Wind. Be advised, we are approaching east south east of Babnockorty City at 900 knots. We are decelerating rapidly, but may still produce a sonic boom out to eight clicks. I say again, we are approaching east south east of Babnockorty City at 900 knots. We are decelerating rapidly, but may still produce a sonic boom out to eight clicks. Ground Control. Ground Control. This is the West Wind. We will be arriving on station in five minutes. I say again, we will be arriving on station in five minutes. Is there a cleared landing strip for us? Over."

"West Wind. West Wind. This is Ground Control," the traffic coordinator answered. "We have you cleared for landing at landing strip four. I say again, you are cleared for landing at landing strip for. Emergency services are standing by. Over."

"Wilco that," the West Wind replied. "We'll have the patient ready for transport within seven minutes. Out."

"Oh no," Cindy groaned in worry. "That has to be Taylor's shuttle!" Worrying about what could have happened to the girl she had befriended over the last several days, Cindy could do nothing but stay in her holding pattern until whatever emergency had been resolved. "Damn it, Flare, I hate waiting," she grumbled to her AI companion and copilot.

"We will be down shortly," Flare replied in a soothing tone. "Once we receive clearance to land, we'll be down in less than 20 minutes in the worst case and can find out what is happening then. Attempting anything now will just make things harder for the ground crews."

"I know that," Cindy complained, "but I still don't like not being able to do anything about it." The two sat in tense silence until the shock wave of the passing shuttle rolled over them.

[hr][/hr]

As soon as her Horizon-class star yacht had safely powered down and she could get to the hatch, Cindy was rushing through the corridors of Babnockorty City's space terminal. Spotting a familiar uniform, she grabbed the purple haired girl by the shoulder, spun her around to face her, and demanded, "How is she?"

The mercenary tensed, beginning an attack before forcing herself to relax as she recognized her attacker from the information packet they had been given for the mission. "We don't know," she answered in clipped tones. "She passed out as soon as we got through the portal and hasn't woken up since."

"Damn it!" the redhead snapped. "I knew we needed to do more testing." Sighing softly, she muttered, "I'm sorry, Taylor."

"Are you alright, Cindy?" Taylor Hebert asked awkwardly from beside Para.

"Taylor!" Cindy exclaimed, spinning to look over her charge. "You're alright!" Taylor quickly found herself wrapped in a tight hug.

"Yes?" Taylor said questioningly while patting the older girl on the back, not knowing what else to do.

Looking over to the purple tressed mercenary again, Cindy demanded, "Why did you say she was unconscious?"

"I what?" Para asked, confused. "I thought you were talking about Mina. She passed out right after we got through her second portal, and we haven't been able to wake her up."

"Did you try sex?" Cindy asked, releasing Taylor from her hug.

"What?! How could you even," Para sputtered. She took a breath to calm herself. "We're mercenaries, not monsters."

"Well, yeah," Cindy replied, "but it sounds like Mina is out of mana, so… sex."

Taylor was thoughtful for a moment before she guessed, "Because she's a Carnal magical girl?"

Para pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe none of us thought of that. Hell, just having the men beat one out would have been enough, wouldn't it?"

Cindy shrugged. "Probably. I don't really know how it all works, but I read up a bit more on the emotional types once Taylor decided to become one."

"Good idea," Para agreed. "Hang on, I need to update Medical." Pulling out her communicator, she said, "Chisulo, you're still with Mina, right?"

"They wouldn't let me in the treatment room, but I'm close enough," the large mercenary replied.

"Good. Let them know that it could be a case of mana depletion," Para began. "The Slut Life representative with me suggested generating lust as a mana source."

"I'll let them know," Chisulo said before signing off.

"Well, that should take care of that," Para commented, putting her communicator away. "It's up to the docs now."

"Pretty much," Cindy agreed. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"Not really," Para replied. "Anyway, since I don't think I've introduced myself I'm Corporal Para Ventura, with Tagon's Toughs. And you are?"

"Right, sorry," Cindy apologized, shaking her head slightly. "I was a bit worried and lost myself for a moment there. I'm Cindy Matos." She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Same," Para replied, taking the hand. "So, you just came in?"

"Yeah, I was in the middle of landing when you guys claimed emergency priority," Cindy said.

"You either made very good speed or took forever getting ready," Para noted.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked.

"Well," Para began, "If Cindy used a teraport, she had to have taken almost three hours to get ready for us to have gotten here around the same time. But, if she wasn't using a teraport, getting this far from Earth in just three hours is really impressive."

"I don't really know that much about stellar navigation," Cindy prefaced, "but I've been told the Jade Falcon has a 0.5 class hyperdrive."

"And that means?" Para asked leadingly.

"Hang, on," Cindy began, holding up wrist and flexing her hand. A small holographic window opened above the bracelet she was wearing. A few quick gestures and she relaxes her hand, causing the window to disappear. "According to Flare, my AI, it means that we can travel at a little more than nine million times the speed of light."

"Nine- nine _million_ ," Para squeaked. "That's _really_ impressive. We still can't get above light speed without using a wormgate or teraport back home."

"I'm confused," Taylor admitted. "Shouldn't you both have the same technology? You're from the same universe, right?"

"That's… not quite accurate," Cindy admitted. "There are, I suppose bridges is a good term, between some of the more well-connected universes in the multiverse that allow travel from one universe to another. This universe is one of the hub universes, so it's got a lot more different tech around than some of the others."

"It also helps that you can just get handed a spaceship for completing a run on Slut Life or another show," Para grumbled. "And I saw some of the specs on those ships. Most of them aren't nearly as fast as yours."

Cindy shrugged. "It does what I want, is pretty comfortable, and can defend itself when necessary. Being able to land it in my backyard is just a bonus."

"That sounds pretty small," Para noted.

"It is. The Jade Falcon is only about 50 meters long, but it's got a decent sized hold and a good amount of living space," Cindy replied. "Anyway, we've been standing in this corridor long enough. Want to go get some food?"

"I could eat," Para agreed.

"Lunch would be good," Taylor added, right before her stomach growled audibly, causing her to blush.


	21. Preparation 2:5

Preparation 2.5

[hr][/hr]

"Well, here we are," Cindy said, gesturing around the small room. "Your new home for the next week or two."

"It looks like a hotel room," Taylor noted, looking around. The room was reasonably spacious, though it primarily contained a small bed, a desk, a few lights and a bathroom.

"It is," Cindy replied. "And on that note, you may want to stay below the third floor." At Taylor's questioning look, the redhead explained, "The upper floors are set aside for current contestants, neighbors, and other volunteers who want the free rent. The lower floors are for people passing through and contestants waiting for their runs to begin." She paused for a moment before adding, "My room's actually right next to yours."

"I take it the upper floors get a bit crazy?" Taylor asked, recalling what she had seen of the show that had taken place in a similar hotel.

"It can," Cindy agreed. "Especially during spring break. The rooms up there are less expensive, due to the likelihood of getting caught up in the moment and getting filmed, so they're pretty popular with regular students on vacation." She grinned and added, "We've got an entire line of videos about partiers forgetting themselves and going wild."

"That doesn't sound particularly ethical," Taylor noted.

"Oh, we don't just publish the videos," Cindy said reassuringly. "We take the kids aside, show them what we filmed, and offer them either a one time fee or some royalties on the sales. If they don't agree, we don't use that footage." She shrugged and added, "I understand most of them appreciate the extra pocket money."

Taylor considered that for a moment. "If they know what they're getting into and are getting paid for it, I guess that's not so bad," she decided. Looking around again, she changed the subject, "Am I supposed to keep my bugs in here, or did you have somewhere else in mind? I can feel them a good distance that way." She pointed deeper into the compound.

"I found a nice, well ventilated and climate controlled room in one of our storage buildings," Cindy replied. "It's about half way between the hotel and the labs, so you should be able to control them the entire time you're here, unless you decide to go for a longer trip or something."

"I can't really see that happening," Taylor admitted ruefully. "It's not like I know anyone else in the area or have any money to spend."

"True," Cindy agreed. "But that's part of why you chose to get paid throughout the year, right? To make sure you had money of your own to buy things with?"

"Pretty much," Taylor said.

"Well, if it helps, I've got a few food vouchers for you while you're waiting for everything to be set up," Cindy began cheerfully. "They're good at the tavern, bar, restaurant, karaoke bar, room service, and a few of the less local places. If you want something fresh, it'll also work at the local grocery stores."

"Are the restaurants any good?" Taylor asked.

"It really depends on which ones you go for," Cindy replied, "and what you're looking for. The fast food places are fast food, so… yeah. Some of the restaurants are really good, though." A moment later, she winced and added, "Of course, you probably aren't going to have too much time to try them all."

"Busy schedule?" Taylor assumed.

"Very," the redhead agreed. "First, they're going to need to take care of your body mods. Depending on how extreme the changes you want, that can take anywhere between a day and more than a week." She pulled up Taylor's contract on her bracelet and scrolled over the relevant portions. "Based on what you're getting, most of it should be done in a day. The only lengthy part is likely to be the gills. That'll probably take a bit more time to restructure everything and make sure it all works correctly."

Taylor nodded her understanding. "I can see that being more difficult. I'm surprised it'll only take that short a time."

"We've gotten very good at this over the years," Cindy confided. "Anyway, once they finish modifying your body, they'll take some genetic samples and whip up a pair of siblings for you. That'll take a few more days as they grow, but you won't be involved in that part. We'll have your magical girl empowerment ritual take place sometime around then."

"That's a lot of stuff to do," Taylor said worriedly. "I was hoping to get some more practice with the rifle before the empowerment, too."

"I'll see what I can set up," Cindy promised. "For now, you might as well get settled in and get something to eat. Your appointment with the body modders is tomorrow morning, so you might want to get an early night as well."

"I am pretty tired," Taylor admitted. "I think I'll just order something from room service, take a nice, relaxing shower, and head to bed for the night."

"I'll probably do the same," Cindy replied. "I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

"That sounds fine," Taylor said. "Goodnight, Cindy."

"Goodnight, Taylor, I'll see you in the morning," Cindy returned before making her way out of the hotel room.

[hr][/hr]

Once she'd settled into her room with a nice plate of chicken fingers from room service, Cindy propped open her laptop and initiated a call back to Earth. "Evening, Boss," she said as Bob Ross answered the video call.

"Good evening, Cindy. Did everything work out alright with the transfer?" the executive asked, jumping right into the business at hand.

"For the most part," Cindy replied. "We had a little trouble with Mina, but everything went well with Taylor. Apparently there was some kind of an issue with teraporting, but it only lasted a few moments. I don't think we'll be able to get her back to Earth the same way, though."

"That bad?" Ross asked before shaking his head. "No, you don't need to answer that one. I'll start looking for an alternate way to get Miss Hebert home at the end of the year."

"Thank you, Sir," Cindy said, sighing in relief. "We could probably get her to take a teraport again, if we had to, but I'm sure she'd rather not."

"Perfectly understandable, if she had problems," Ross replied. "Now, what was that you were saying about Mina?"

Cindy coughed lightly before responding, "She apparently overexerted herself making the second portal. The mercenaries didn't think of using sex to wake her up, so they made an emergency landing to get her treatment as quickly as possible. Once I spoke with Corporal Ventura and realized they hadn't tried that method first, I contacted the medical wing here and told them it may be an effective treatment."

"Have you received any update on her condition yet?" Ross asked, a frown marring his face.

"I haven't checked recently," Cindy admitted. "Give me a moment, and I'll see what I can find." Muting and minimizing the chat, she opened her email and glanced through the headings. Not seeing anything promising, she flexed her hand to open her holographic phone while typing in a search with her other hand. Dialing the number she found, she waited a moment before saying, "Hello, this is Cindy Matos, with Slut Life. I wanted to check on one of your patients."

"I'll need to check your permissions first, please hold a moment," the receptionist replied. Cindy sighed as she was subjected to the hold muzak the hospital had decided on using. "Here we go. I see that you have limited access to some information. Which patient are you asking about?"

"I'm asking about a magical girl named Mina," Cindy began. "A group of mercenaries brought her in earlier today."

"I have her records here," the receptionist replied. "She is currently in recovery and is scheduled to be released tomorrow morning."

"I'm glad to hear it," Cindy said. "Does it say what happened?"

There was the sound of keys clicking on the other side of the phone. Finally, the receptionist answered, "According to Mina, the portal took most of her mana, like it usually does. She usually has just enough to close the portal before she would pass out from maintaining it. This time, something prevented her from closing the portal normally, and she didn't have enough mana to force it to close. Since it was still drawing on her mana, and she wasn't producing more, she passed out, with all of her mana generation going to maintaining the portal."

"So she needed an external influx of mana?" Cindy hazarded a guess.

"Right," the receptionist agreed. "Once she was awake, she gathered additional mana quickly before forcing the portal closed. That, of course, knocked her out again. She's just sleeping it off, now."

"I'm glad she'll be alright. Thanks for the information," Cindy said before ending the call. Bringing the video call back to the forefront on her laptop, she unmuted it.

"Well?" Ross asked. "What did you find out?"

"Something kept the portal open and it drained Mina's mana too far," Cindy explained. "They managed to get her up long enough to force the portal closed. She's still recovering."

"Great," Ross grumbled. "Another thing we're going to need to figure out. I'm glad Mina's alright." He sighed and added, "I'm going to need to see about getting her some sort of mana storage device if we're going to keep having her ferry people around, though." Shaking his head, he continued, "Thank you for the update. Please keep me posted of any other developments."

"I will," Cindy promised. Hesitantly, she added, "I'm going to try something with Taylor's body mod appointment tomorrow. If things go well, Taylor will be much happier, and if they don't, well, it'll be during the planning phase, so we'll still be able to fix it."

Ross gave his subordinate a hard look. "Just make sure she gets what she wants," he said seriously.

"I will," Cindy insisted. "She'll have plenty of time to make additional tweaks before everything is finalized."

"Good. We've messed up with her enough as it is already," Ross said seriously. "We don't need to be making things worse now."

Cindy shuddered slightly before agreeing, "Definitely not, Sir."

"Good. Now, I have some more meeting I need to get to before I can go home for the night, so I'll let you go," Ross concluded. "Have a good night."

"You too, Sir," Cindy said before ending the call. Yawning, she decided to head to bed. She would need to get up early to set up her plan at the body mod clinic before meeting with Taylor. The plan wouldn't work if Taylor knew about it beforehand. Luckily, the clinic should be just slightly outside her known range, so she shouldn't be able to listen in on the conversation if she suddenly figured out the eavesdropping trick she was working on.

[hr][/hr]

It had taken about two hours since she'd woken up, but Taylor was finally ready to undergo the body modification procedure. She could have been ready earlier, but she had been hungry that morning and needed to have a large breakfast. She also wanted to check on her insects, since they weren't sure if she'd be able to control them while being modified. Such were the risks of general anesthesia. In the event that she wouldn't be able to control them, her spider was in a decent sized enclosure with a nice, juicy beetle ready to be eaten, her ants were set up so they couldn't escape, her millipede was set up with a nice habitat and a good amount of vegetation to eat, her crickets were in a terrarium, and her bees had access to the outside, so they could forage for food.

She was worried about the egg sack of Darwin Bark spider eggs she had, because they could easily prove cannibalistic once they hatched. On the other hand, they didn't feel like they were ready yet, so she figured they had a good week or so before then. Once she was done with her modifications, she was planning on keeping the egg sack on her at all times. Sure, having a swarm of baby spiders crawling all over sounded creepy, and she wasn't sure how she'd take the sensations when the time came, but it was definitely preferable to losing her new silk producers.

Turning to Cindy, who was patiently waiting beside her in front of the medical center and laboratory's door, Taylor sighed, saying, "Alright, I'm ready. Let's get this over with."

"Sure, let's do this," Cindy agreed, opening the door for the younger girl. "Your room is all set up, over here," she continued, leading Taylor down one of the hallways. "Dr. Zecora is waiting for you."

Taylor flushed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make him wait."

"Dr. Zecora is a her," Cindy said simply. "And, don't worry, she's used to dealing with nervous patients." Before Taylor could say anything else, Cindy led her through a door and into a room. "And here we are."

Taylor looked around the room. For the most part, it looked very much like a waiting room. There were a few chairs along the sides of the room what looked like a gray mat in the center. In one of the corners there was a privacy screen. "Ah, there you are," a kindly female voice began, drawing Taylor's attention to the other corner, where a computer terminal stood, a woman sitting behind it. "I was worried you had wandered far."

Taylor stood, staring at the woman dumbly, momentarily transfixed on the two pointed ears, the black and white striped mohawk, and the pronounced muzzle the woman sported. This was one woman who definitely had a bit of zebra in her. Shaking herself, Taylor said, "Er, hi. Sorry about that, I needed to take care of my insects before getting started."

"It is good that you do not act in haste," Dr. Zecora said, standing and walking around the terminal. Taylor noticed that her legs ended in hooves and she had a striped horse tail swaying out of the back of her lab coat. "To do otherwise would be a waste."

"Dr. Zecora has a great deal of experience with transformations and magic," Cindy explained. "The higher ups thought she'd be able to offer her expertise here."

"Zecora you may call me. It will give us a better repartee. With Lyra, I came from the pony lands," Zecora explained. "So that we could learn about using hands. It turned out to be much fun, so I stayed even after my contract was done."

"Oh… that's nice," Taylor said awkwardly. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the rhyming doctor. "Er… should we get started?"

"Yes, there is much to do," Zecora said, making her way back to the computer. She gestured toward the screen and added, "Step behind the screen and we'll have a view."

Taylor blinked in confusion as she tried to parse that one. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Your image, we will need," Zecora explained, "so that we can proceed."

Cindy groaned, her hand going to rub the bridge of her nose for a moment before she translated. "We need you to strip down behind the screen so we can get a three-dimensional scan of your body. Then you can come back out here and we'll work our way through the changes you want to make using the holographic projector."

"Do I really need to be naked?" Taylor asked, even as she made her way over to the privacy screen. Come to think of it, why did they bother with the screen if they were going to be projecting her naked anyway?

"In the way, your clothes will get," the zebra woman said. "A good scan we'll need to not fret."

Taylor puzzled that one over before asking, "So you mean the clothes would get in the way of making a proper model to work from, so any adjustments I make would be wrong?"

"You are very astute," Zecora said, smiling slyly. "It's a good thing you're so very cute."

Taylor flushed in embarrassment, not knowing how to take that comment and rushed behind the screen. She quickly stripped down before calling out, "Alright, I'm ready!"

"There is no need for woe," Zecora called back. "We are all ready to go." A ring above Taylor flared with light before lowering around her. It traveled up and down her form several times before returning to its place in the ceiling. "The scan is wrought, now out you trot."

After a second translating that last bit into something normal, Taylor called back, "Can I at least get dressed first?"

"Go ahead, Taylor," Cindy replied. "We should have everything we need."

"Thanks," Taylor called as she pulled her clothes back on. Coming around the screen, she was met by the two women observing the nude holographic figure floating above the mat. Taylor flushed in embarrassment but made her way over to Cindy without saying anything.

"Where would you like to start?" Zecora asked. "What facet is closest to your heart?"

Taylor looked over the nude portrayal of her body and winced. Her too wide mouth looked even more absurd than she was used to, though she supposed that could just be the angle she was looking at it from. Still, even more than the mouth, there was one thing that truly made her appearance look like that of an upright frog. "Can we start with my belly?" she asked meekly.

"What change would you like to inspect?" Zecora asked. "I am sure we can have some effect."

Taylor sighed. That rhyming was going to get old fast, but she didn't want to say anything in case the quirk was cultural or something. Insulting your doctor right before surgery didn't seem particularly wise. "I've been jogging a bit to get rid of my paunch," Taylor admitted hesitantly. She blinked and slapped her forehead as a thought came to her. "And that was completely unnecessary since I'm going through this, wasn't it?"

"Well, mostly," Cindy admitted. "But it kept you occupied when you didn't have anything else to do, and it's a good habit to get into, especially since you're going to be a magical girl and want to be a hero once you get back home."

Taylor sighed in resignation. "You're probably right. Anyway, can we see about flattening that out? Make it toned?"

"If it is toned you seek, then we shall have to take a peek," the dark skinned woman said as she manipulated the computer. When she was done, the stomach of the hologram was noticeably smaller, smooth with just the barest hint of a six pack showing through. "What do you think of this style?" she asked. "I think it makes a nice profile."

"Yeah," Taylor had to agree, looking at the image in shock.

"Looks nice," Cindy added. "If you want anything more, you can probably get there with just a bit of exercise."

Taylor's eyes roved over the stomach for a moment before coming to a decision. "That looks fine. Anything more would probably be suspicious when I get back home, right?"

"If changes you wish to hide, then your time you must bide," Zecora agreed sagely.

"Right," Taylor decided. "Let's keep that as it is and move on to my face." Zecora nodded and caused the hologram to zoom in, leaving the group looking at a massive copy of Taylor's head. At the new angle, it was even more apparent how freakishly wide her mouth was. Frowning, Taylor asked, "Can we narrow my mouth a bit?"

"But your lips are so expressive," Zecora protested. "We should not be as aggressive. I will make changes bit by bit; you can tell me when to quit."

"And remember," Cindy added, "you're going to want to look close enough to how you did before so that discrepancies in your ID can be overlooked."

"Right," Taylor agreed warily. "We'll take it slow." She watched critically as the lips on the digital representation grew narrower and narrower by degrees. Finally, she decided, "I think that's enough. Can I see the full body again?" Zecora nodded and switched back to a whole body view. "That looks a little weird," Taylor considered, examining her altered face critically. "I don't think I'd be comfortable with my mouth being any more different than I'm used to, though. It already looks a little too narrow for me. What do you think?"

"It is a good smile," Zecora stated, to which Cindy added her agreement. "What part should next be on the dial?"

Taylor looked her image over again before stating, "Boobs."

"Now, keep in mind," Cindy cautioned. "You're also taking the Breast Expansion punishment, so you can always make your boobs bigger. Right now you're setting up your baseline size. And you also chose Always Perky, so you won't have to worry about sagging under anything remotely reasonable."

"I'll be of little help, this one admits," Zecora mentioned. "Ponies do not put as much stock in having large tits." Taylor eyed the buxom woman's chest dubiously but didn't comment. "We will start with a small A," the zebra woman decided. "Then we shall see what you want them to weigh."

Taylor watched as her flat breasts puffed out slightly. They were still barely noticeable, but at least they weren't pancakes. "Can you increase them more?" she requested.

"That I can do with ease," Zecora replied while causing the breasts to expand further. She continued to increase their size one cup at a time, pausing for only a few second before asking, "Though maybe not to your knees?"

Taylor could only stare at the image before her in disbelief. Somehow, the gargantuan breasts that covered her entire torso were still perky yet natural looking. "That's a little too big," she stated. "I think one of those first ones was probably good."

Cindy nodded her agreement. "Yeah… With how active you're planning on being, I don't think anything larger than a D-cup would be comfortable."

"If you plan on moving around, perhaps your breasts should be toned down," Zecora suggested, dropping the model's bust size down significantly.

"Can you switch back and forth between the B-cup and C-cup, please?" Taylor asked, studying the model closely.

"Remember," Cindy chipped in, "you'll have some control over your breast size. Right now you're just determining what you want the lower limit to be."

Taylor had Zecora flip between the two sizes a few more times before coming to a decision. "I'll go with the B-cups. If I change my mind, I can always just keep the breast expansion set at C-cups, right?"

"Exactly," the redhead concurred. "There's been a few times where I kind of regret setting my base size to C-cups. Not too often, but it does happen."

"Maybe I should stick with the A-cup, then?" Taylor asked nervously.

"It's up to you," Cindy said, "but there isn't terribly much difference between those two, so you should be fine either way. Worst case, you can throw on a sports bra to keep them from jiggling too much, but you shouldn't need that without a lot larger boobs."

"Thanks," Taylor said. "I think I'll take the B-cups. What's next?" From there, they went over the rest of her appearance, tweaking things to suit her tastes while keeping herself recognizable as Taylor Hebert. While each change was relatively minor, the combined effect was stunning. Where before there was a gawky, plain girl, there was now a very pretty, possibly even regal young woman. "I like this," Taylor decided.

"I think it looks good, too," Cindy agreed, proudly. She and Zecora had managed to coach Taylor into making multiple small changes to have the same overall effect as a single larger change would have, while keeping the girl more recognizable. Hesitantly, the redhead added, "But, before you finalize things, I need to make an admission."

"What?" Taylor asked curiously, wondering where this was going.

In lieu of answering, Cindy turned towards the doctor. "Zecora, can you pull up Taylor's original scan, where she started, and what we've come up with so far?"

The zebra nodded and complied, causing three images to form over the holographic pad before focusing on the three faces. "There is no need for alarm," Zecora said. "And we meant you no harm. We thought your smile was so cute, your self image we sought to dispute."

Cindy gestured toward the faces and explained, "This morning, before I came to get you, I came here and talked with Zecora. I know you think your mouth is too wide, but it's really expressive and looks good on you, so I convinced Zecora to set you up. If you look at the first two faces, you'll see what I mean."

Taylor looked at the two faces and immediately saw what Cindy was referring to. While the first face looked very similar to what she remembered seeing in the mirror, the second face had an even wider mouth. The third face was the one they had just finished designing, and its mouth was much closer to the original scan than the one she had started with was to the original. Looking at Cindy pleadingly, Taylor simply asked, "Why?"

"You've got a lot of low self esteem built up by those bitches at your school," Cindy began gently. "I thought if you had the chance, you'd see that you actually like some of your features, such as your mouth." She shuffled silently for a moment before adding, "If you want, we can always narrow your mouth more."

"No," Taylor decided as she looked between the different faces, "I think I'm good with what we have. I still think I'd look weird if my mouth was much smaller than we settled on."

Zecora clapped her hands and asked, "Then you are satisfied? Is this the look with which you decide?"

Taylor sucked in a breath before answering, "Yeah, I think it is."

"Good, then I must be frank," Zecora began brightly, hustling Taylor toward the door. "It is past time to put you in the tank. The changes will be quite profound, and will take some time to come around. Cindy will be there when you wake, but for now, you need to bake.


	22. Preparation 2:6

Preparation 2.6

[hr][/hr]

"Oh, I'm so excited," Velma Platt squealed as she continued to pack her things into boxes. She was going to be a Cutie on Slut Life, and her contestant liked bugs! "Eee!" she squealed again, causing her father to wince.

"I know you're excited, dear, but can you try to keep it down a little" Professor Norman Platt pleaded. "My ears can't take much more of that."

"Sorry, Dad," Velma apologized. "It's just… I'll finally have a friend who I can talk about bugs with!"

This time, Norman's wince had nothing to do with noise. It was unfortunately hard to dispute that his darling daughter had had a hard life, at no small fault of his own. For a dedicated entomologist such as himself, the opportunity to study the insects on Beelzajaab was too good to pass up. He had packed up his wife and six year old daughter and moved out to the planet.

Luckily, between being exposed to his work all through her early years and the innocent curiosity all young children had, Velma had settled right in on Beelzajaab, though he supposed they were lucky some scientist had whipped up a nanobot treatment that worked amazingly well at keeping nearby insects from attacking, considering all the times Velma had tried to bring her crawly friends into the living enclosure. Once she'd learned that the insects were _outside_ friends, she'd taken to sleeping outside most nights, though at least they had convinced her to use a hammock and mosquito netting. As a side effect of the nanobots, insects were also much more likely to approach, and some of them could carry hazardous germs, which could easily make the unwary, or the sleeping, very sick indeed. It had only taken a year for his wife, Delores, to get fed up and leave the planet. She had wanted to take Velma with her, but the little girl, always Daddy's little pupa, had demanded to stay behind.

"Better she get it out of her system now than when she meets Miss Hebert," Delores commented dryly. While she refused to live on Beelzajaab, she had still loved her family, so she had compromised. She had lived off of the planet and took care of her own business dealings while her husband remained on the surface. She made a point of visiting several times a month, at minimum, through the entire ten year span and had remained in more constant contact through videoconferencing. She had been overjoyed when Norman and Velma had finished their stay on the bug infested planet, as they could properly spend time together as a family again. "You wouldn't want to scare her away, now would you?" Norman shot his wife an exasperated look. Their daughter had always been somewhat excitable, and it looked like this time would be no different.

"Sorry, Mom," Velma said as she visibly forced herself to calm down a little. "It's just so exciting. I'm finally going to get a chance to make friends with someone my own age."

"What about all your friends from school?" Delores asked, lifting one sculpted eyebrow.

"They don't count," Velma complained with a pout. "It's not like I ever really met any of them outside of school, anyway." That was one of the problems with using a remote-learning setup, Norman mused. You could interact with your peers, to an extent, but you couldn't really play with them or hang out with them normally, considering they were usually in a different corner of the universe and all.

"That's true enough, I suppose," Delores allowed. "Now, do you have everything packed and ready to go?"

"Yes, Mom," Velma replied, rolling her eyes. "Everything's set."

"You packed enough underwear, right?" her mother insisted.

"Yes, Mother," Velma replied shortly. Norman hid his smile behind his coffee mug. This was the third time this morning, and his daughter was definitely growing tired of it.

"And your toothbrush?" his wife insisted.

"Yes, Mom," Velma drawled.

"And enough socks?" Delores tried again.

"Yes, Mo-" Velma began before cutting herself off. "I'll be right back."

[hr][/hr]

"Are you crazy?" Jana Raskop demanded. "I'm not going!"

"But this is your big chance," her matchmaker wheedled. "You've been looking for an opportunity like this for two years now."

"Look," the young futanari began, "I know you're looking out for me, and I know this is a great opportunity for me, but I'm not doing it!" She shuddered. "I don't know how to handle that kind of intensity!" she insisted. "You saw her interview, right?"

"I saw the broadcast, yes," Fausta Siegel replied.

"Yeah, sure, but did you see the full version?" Jana pressed.

"There was another version?" Fausta asked in surprise. "Why would they do that?"

Jana shuddered again before answering. "It's because her life is so bad Slut Life needed to censor it. I tried to watch the full video, and I couldn't even make it through her description of an average day at school! I thought I had it bad, being the only open futa in my school, but what she had to put up with?" She shook her head sadly. "And then I read some of the comments about the video, and people were coming out of the woodwork, saying they wished they had been chosen for her owners so they could help her."

"And you have the opportunity to do just that," Fausta persisted.

"Except I don't think I'm strong enough," Jana all but wailed. "She needs someone who'll stand beside her against all odds, not some shrinking violet like me!"

"You're selling yourself short," Fausta replied. "You seem to be standing up to me fine right now."

Jana nodded her head rapidly. "And you have no idea how much effort this is taking me. I'm telling you, get someone else. I don't care if it takes another two years for me to get another chance. I can't help Taylor Hebert with her problems, and I think she'd be too intense for me." In a much more pleading voice, she added, "Please?"

Fausta sighed. "If you're sure," she began.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!"

"Let me finish," the matchmaker reprimanded. "Now, if you're sure, I'll let the executives know that you don't think you're a suitable owner. They should have a few weeks to find a replacement, but if they can't you might still need to do your best on the show."

Jana looked miserable once more. "But I don't think I'm strong enough for that," she muttered.

Fausta grimaced. "I understand that you think so. Unfortunately, you were selected as Miss Hebert's Futanari. If none of the others are willing to take your position, you may still need to step up and do your best."

Jana sighed. "I guess that's the best you can do, huh?" She continued before Fausta could comment. "I still think I'll mess things up, but if you can't find anyone else, I guess I'll just have to suck it up."

"I'm sure things will work out," Fausta said reassuringly, patting her charge on the shoulder. "Even if we can't find someone else to fill in, I'm sure you'll do fine. Just be your usual cheerful self and be supportive."

Jana sighed again. "If you say so. Still, I hope they can find someone better."

[hr][/hr]

"Huh, that's weird," Bertram Harding muttered to himself as he looked over the housing order he'd just received. The burly owner of one of Slut Life's preferred construction companies was not entirely sure what to make of this order.

"What's up, Boss?" Oskar Higgins, one of Bertram's best foremen asked.

"This order from Slut Life seems a bit odd," Bertram said, gesticulating with the paper in his hand.

Oskar took the proffered page and glanced over it. "It seems pretty standard to me. I mean, sure, it's a bit larger than normal and the spatially expanded gun range is a bit unusual, but nothing weirder than normal."

"That's not the weird bit," Bertram growled in frustration. "I already had the boys set up an apartment for this customer. Nice place, plenty of space. Three bedrooms, all the luxuries for the bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, and _three_ empty rooms. I've lived in _houses_ smaller than that. Now they want us to set up a new house in the gated community instead, and this, as I'm sure you can see, is _more than twice the size_!"

"Do you think it's a mistake?" Oskar asked.

"It's possible," Bertram conceded. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been sent orders prematurely. Still, those kinds of mistakes only really happened when someone jumped the gun and put in an order before the contestant had even signed the contract. Sighing, he came to a decision. "I'll give Slut Life a call and check on this. I need to figure out which order is the correct one. At least we haven't started moving the neighbors in yet."

Oskar nodded. "Yeah, they always get tetchy about getting moved after they've settled, and it's a pain finding replacements for the ones who refuse to move. Then again, we sometimes get lucky and their replacements are already living there." He gestured over his shoulder at the break room. "Anyway, I'm going to grab a cup of joe while you figure out what we're doing today. You want one?"

"Please," Bertram replied. "You know how I like it."

"Black and strong enough to dissolve the spoon," Oskar answered. Bertram just nodded before focusing on the phone.

[hr][/hr]

"Hi, yes, this is the Magical Girl Obsessive Liana," Liana said into her phone. "I was looking to get a phone number for Miss Taylor Hebert. She's one of the newest contestants on Slut Life, and I think she recently left the planet, if that helps."

The receptionist's voice was very flat when she answered, "We are not in the habit of giving personal details to fans, even if they are magical girls. You should just focus your obsessions elsewhere."

Liana sighed in frustration. That was one of the problems of being known to use the Obsession Pit. Everyone assumed you were going to turn into a crazed stalker at the drop of a hat. "You don't understand, my partner and I helped her decide what she wanted when she becomes a magical girl. I was just hoping to speak with her."

"I'll need to check on that, please hold," the receptionist replied before the line was filled with exceptionally bland music.

"Huh," Liana mused aloud, catching Meagan's attention.

"What is it?" the other magical girl asked.

"Their hold music," Liana stated, "I was expecting porno music or something. Not standard hold music."

Meagan shrugged. "I guess they hear enough of that already. Or they're trying to confuse people."

"Yeah, well, they're succeeding," Liana griped. She perked up as the music abruptly stopped.

"Thank you for holding," the receptionist said as she came back on the line. "I've confirmed that you have spoken with Miss Hebert in the past, and there are indications that she would not be adverse to speaking with you again in future."

"Finally," Liana grumbled under her breath, hand over the phone's microphone. Meagan shot her an exasperated look. Uncovering the phone, the Obsession based magical girl asked, "Great, can I speak with her, please?"

"I'm sorry, that's not currently possible, as she is no longer on planet and has not received her cell phone yet," the receptionist calmly replied. Liana was getting the impression that the woman on the other end of the call was enjoying giving her bad news.

"Well, can you patch me through to her planet?" Liana asked, trying to keep her frustration out of her voice.

"I can," the receptionist began. "However, before I do, I am required to ask. Does your phone have an FTL module installed?"

"Yes, it does," Liana answered. "Why?"

"Since your phone has an FTL module, it is simply a matter of transferring the call," the receptionist explained. "However, without the module, we would need to host the call for you, and there would be an additional fee."

"Oh… well, thanks for asking," Liana said, having not thought of that potential issue. Not that the additional charges would have stopped her.

"You're welcome. I'll transfer you now." There was a click, followed by the phone ringing.

"They've transferred me," Liana explained to her friend. She sighed and added, "Hopefully they pick up-"

"Hello, thank you for calling Slut Life, Babnockorty Offices," a new receptionist, this time male, cut in. "How can I help you?"

"Hi, yes," Liana began again. "I'm Obsessive Liana, one of the magical girls who talked with Taylor Hebert back on Earth. I was wondering if I could speak with her? The receptionist on Earth said she didn't have her cell phone yet."

"I just need to check our records," the man replied smoothly. "Please hold."

"And I'm on hold again," Liana groaned as she listened to yet more hold music. This track at least had an interesting beat that almost had her bobbing her head before the receptionist returned.

"Thanks for holding," he began. "It looks like Miss Hebert is currently undergoing her body mods and will be unavailable for the next few days." He kindly ignored the brief profanity Liana exhibited at that revelation. "If you'd like, I can take down your number and let Miss Hebert know you'd like to speak with her as soon as she gets her cell phone."

"Thanks," Liana said ruefully. "I have something important I need to tell her, but it's nothing critical." She rattled off her number before hanging up the phone and turning to Meagan. "Well, that was a bust."

"I'm sure you'll get your chance soon enough," Meagan replied stoically.

"Well, yeah, but I'd kind of like to do it before they start filming her," Liana complained.

Meagan patted the other girl on the shoulder supportively. "Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly. There should still be a few days between her finishing her mods and the show starting. I'm sure she'll give you a call as soon as they tell her you want to talk to her." Leading Liana towards another part of their home, she added, "Come on, I know what'll cheer you up; some time in the greenhouse."

Liana did perk up at that. "Yeah, that'll be nice," she said. "And I need to see how my black daffodils are coming. I think they're still a bit too purple."

[hr][/hr]

In the dark gloom of the Malevolent Empire, Emperor Malik sat on his obsidian throne as he looked out over his assembled generals. "How go the preparations?" he demanded, his deeply resonate voice palpable across his outer sanctum.

"All is progressing according to your plan, My Liege," Field Marshall Asmodeus announced. "Our distractionary force has continued their little game with the mortals, following the Entertainment Engagement rules. As such, the mortals have no inkling of your true plans."

"Excellent," Emperor Malik said, steepling his fingers. "How much longer until the invasion force is ready?"

"It should take no more than seven yergots, my liege."

"Good, good," the emperor replied. "Ensure that the shock troops are prepared by then. I want to overcome our chosen foothold quickly. That world's defenders should have been lulled into a false sense of security by then and will be utterly unprepared for our change in tactics." He gestured towards the generals and said, "Now leave me, I must meditate."

[hr][/hr]

She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday sighed. This was going to be her first trip out of the enclave, and she wasn't sure what to expect. Turning to Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections, she asked, "Are you sure I'm ready for this? It's a big step."

"You'll be fine, daughter," Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections said reassuringly. "Slut Life provides us with a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and possibly find a permanent food source of your own."

"But I don't know what I'm doing!" the younger succubus whined. "I've only ever eaten out of the larder, and everyone says eating fresh food is a lot different!"

Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections wrapped She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday in a comforting embrace. "You'll do fine," she insisted. "We're going to pack you a couple weeks of prepared meals, so you'll have plenty of time to figure out how to feed without worrying about going hungry, and there's going to be plenty of people around, so you should be able to find someone willing to provide what you need."

"But what if none of them like me?" the younger, green haired succubus asked pleadingly. "I don't know how to make friends with humans!"

The older succubus sighed and smoothed She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday's hair soothingly. "Humans aren't so different from us," she said. "Just act like yourself and you'll be fine." Pushing the younger girl away slightly but keeping hold of her shoulders, Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections asked, "Now, are you all packed?"

"Yes, Matron," She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday replied. "Clothes, toiletries, and everything else I need."

Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections quirked an eyebrow knowingly. "Including Mr. Huggles?"

The younger succubus flushed at the mention of her large teddy bear plush. "Yes, Matron. I wouldn't forget him."

"Good. I wouldn't want him to be left here to be lonely," Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections said kindly. "Now," she added, turning She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday around and giving her a swat on the butt, "get going. You've got a lot of farewells to give before the portal is scheduled to open. You wouldn't want to miss it."

"Yes, Matron," the young succubus yelped as she hightailed it out of the room.

Once her charge was gone, Matron-Assigned-to-Daughters-Awaiting-Romantic-Affections sighed tiredly. "I hope this was the right choice," she muttered softly. "Hopefully they'll help her gain a bit more confidence. Really, that girl should have been out hunting for her own food years ago."

[hr][/hr]

Joy Cassidy tried to stay upbeat as she looked over the burgeoning magic circle taking shape in front of her, but it was hard. For what was probably the first time in decades, they would be be holding, and televising, a full magical empowerment ritual, rather than the usual ad hoc affair in the middle of combat or a private affair with just a magical girl or two and the new inductee. And to make matters more complicated, Slut Life wanted to make the ritual look more impressive by having power sources for all of the Wells and Pits around, along with an extra, neutral magical boost that was part of some payment to the subject of the ritual. That was all fine and good, but the actual preparations were taking longer than they were expecting, and the still weren't sure when the ritual was even supposed to be held.

"I just got the news!" Hope Celandine called, walking into the room and holding up her phone for emphasis while she adjusted her floppy hat with her other hand. Her ravens, Pip and Pop casually circled over her head. "Taylor is coming out of the tank either tonight or early tomorrow morning, so we need to have everything set up for tomorrow afternoon!" As the second most experienced magical girl, and being the one best able to deal with bureaucrats, Cassidy had assigned her the task of keeping up to date on what needed to be done for the ritual.

One of the magical girls, wearing a dark flowing outfit with ribbons trailing off of it that seemed to absorb the light around her, was busily drawing, checking, and redrawing sections of the circle. "We've got to get everything perfect," Obsessive Rose stated. She was still new, having only arrived in the city a day or so before, but she was a team player when it counted. Her mini-dragon, a creature so dark in color he seemed to absorb the light, sat on her shoulder, looking on in interest as she worked.

"Damn it!" Wicked Angelica cursed, stomping an armored boot against the concrete. Her ash bat floated gently above her, observing the proceedings while staying out of the way. "How are we supposed to get thirteen high quality mana crystals, all with different alignments, by tomorrow?!" Cassidy was honestly surprised, though very grateful, that Angelica hadn't gone rogue over the last few years, considering Babnockorty was such a peaceful place. She supposed the trips the other girl took to Bellacose helped keep her mana pools filled and gave her an outlet for her more violent urges, though she did tend to be more brutal than necessary when fighting the 'invading armies' that showed up every few days to provide entertainment and training.

"We only need eleven crystals," Lucy Lewd huffed, which would have done interesting things to her chest in her skimpy outfit, if she weren't physically eight. "They don't want us to have the Lewd Well or the Carnal Pit there." Cassidy could understand the girl's annoyance. Having your Well ignored was something of an insult. On the other hand, Taylor was going to be on Slut Life, and magical girls have had issues with overloading their reserves before. She spared a moment to look at an unused corner of the room where Lucy's… potato… thing was entertaining her children along with her own slime, Gooey. Cassidy had to give the mother of two credit; she didn't think she could handle being both a mother and a magical girl. Hell, just being a magical girl was trying enough most times.

"I was told they're flying some in from Earth," Celandine replied.

"Then why didn't they just empower her there?" Angelica demanded. It was a sensible question. It would have been more convenient for pretty much everyone had they done so.

"I don't know,"Celandine answered. "They didn't tell me that."

"At least they're sending us the power sources," Cassidy chipped in. "We aren't being expected to fill those as well."

"That's something, at least," Angelica grunted. "It's hard enough trying to get this damn circle drawn right." She made another mark on the floor before scowling at it and scrubbing it away with a towel. "There has got to be an easier way to do this."

"Calming down and being meticulous will get it done the quickest and most accurately," Rose replied, still working on the same section. Cassidy groaned. The girl was probably the best at making sure everything was perfectly done, but she was being so exacting that it was frustrating to even watch. Then again, that was apparently a common issue with Obsessive magical girls.

"I'm sure if it works, they'll want to make a more permanent circle," Celandine guessed. "It'll probably involve carving the circle into the floor and inlaying it with electrum or something."

"Probably mixed with blood," Lucy noted. "It doesn't even do much, but people keep thinking blood has to be involved with magic somehow."

"To be fair," Cassidy began, "It can make a difference, if the blood is used as part of the Blood Rite. That would increase the potency of the circle immensely."

"Well, yeah," Lucy agreed. "But none of us actually have that rite, right?"

"I do," Celandine admitted, "and I heard the new girl might draw from the Well of Will, so she'd definitely be able to do it."

"Of course, before that'll matter, we've got to finish _this_ damn circle," Angelica noted. "Back to work, I suppose."

"We've got to make sure it's perfect," Rose said with finality, only just finishing with the section she was working on and moving to the next three foot section. It might take her right up until the time the ritual was set to start, but she would finish, and the circle _would_ be perfect.

[hr][/hr]

Percival Weatherby knocked on his superior's office door. "Sir, can I ask you a question?"

"If you must," Fredrick Dangerfield sighed as he set his book down on the desk beside him and sat up straight in his chair. "Come in."

"Thank you, sir," Percival said, making his way into the office. "I was looking over some of the paperwork for Miss Hebert, and I have to ask. Why in the world are we bothering with the mana pools for her empowerment ritual?"

Fredrick sighed. Partially in order to force his subordinate to wait and mostly because his throat was a little dry, he took a sip of water from a conveniently placed glass before answering, "We're using the mana pools because they'll put on a good show and will ensure that Miss Hebert is given plenty of time to make her decisions. No need to make her rush and all. It's not like they'll be empowering her in the middle of a combat area or anything time critical like that."

Percival's forehead furrowed in thought. "A generic mana pool would work just as well for that, surely?" he asked.

Mentally, Fredrick cursed unimaginative subordinates. No sense of style in some of them. "The specific pools put on a better show, since those watching will know what source she's drawing from as a primary based on which one connects first. Besides, while we know that Miss Hebert is planning on drawing upon the positive Wells, the audience doesn't, and it'll be more suspenseful if they don't have even that much of an idea of what she's getting."

"Oh, that makes sense," Percival agreed. Then, because he obviously couldn't leave anything well enough alone, he asked, "Why the full-sized pools, though? Surely a full set of quarter-size pools would've been easier to acquire, at least? If I remember my notes right, it takes a magical girl almost a week to produce a pool for a normal empowerment. Getting a full thirteen, or even the eleven you prescribed, seems a bit much for one ritual."

Fredrick shrugged before offhandedly admitting, "I found a full set at a flea market a few years ago. I stuck them into a room for mood lighting, but the missus has finally had enough. She's been harping at me to get rid of them for the last few months now. Might as well use them for this. Besides, this will be the first publicly viewed empowerment in a long time, let alone on Babnockorty, so we might as well ensure they're full sized. It's not like we're going to be replacing all of them after the ritual, just the ones that were drained. The rest will just need topping off before we use them again. Hell, if Miss Hebert makes a good show of it, we might even get more recruits to be Magical Girls, which is always helpful when dealing with interplanar invaders and such."

"Oh, right, that makes sense," Percival agreed. "And that also explains why you're having them imported from Earth. Though wouldn't it have been better to set the ritual up here? It'd get used more often that way, right?"

"It might be," Fredrick agreed. "However, I was overruled when I made that suggestion. The others would much prefer to test new techniques and ideas on planets they don't live on." Placing one hand on his book meaningfully, and giving his subordinate a _look_ , he asked, "Now then, are you done bothering me? I'm trying to do a bit of light reading."

Percival suddenly looked very abashed. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, sir. I'll just be going." He quickly left the room, leaving Fredrick in peace.

"Now where was I?" he asked himself as he went back to reading _Escalation for Dummies_.


	23. Preparation 2:7

Preparation 2.7

[hr][/hr]

"Wake up, you sleepyhead," Taylor heard a lilting voice say as she slowly returned to consciousness. "It is time to get out of bed." That settled it, she decided fuzzily. Zecora was the one waking her up. A quick mental check revealed that her spiders still hadn't hatched, she'd lost about a hundred bees, but it felt like the queen was laying again, so she'd have more soon enough, and the ants had a net increase of around a hundred individuals. Her crickets and millepede were also doing fine. All things considered, her bugs were doing a lot better than she'd expected.

"Give her a moment," Cindy's voice chided. "I'm sure you remember how disorienting it is waking up after the mods."

"It did take me a while to stand," Zecora agreed readily. "But then, I was not used to hands."

"Sure, that's what made it so hard for you," Cindy rebutted. Taylor could almost hear the eyeroll.

"'M up," she groaned as control started to return to her body.

"Take it easy," Cindy advised. "You've been undergoing modifications for a full week."

"Why did it take that long?" Taylor asked in concern. "I thought you said it'd only take a few days."

"Your gills were quite hard to make,"Zecora explained, "they caused me quite the headache. The first three times weren't so nice. Only the fourth would suffice."

Taylor's hands flew to her throat in shock as she searched for her new gills. "I'd forgotten about those," she admitted. Finding nothing but smooth skin around her neck, she asked, "Where are my gills?"

"On you sides, to be concise," Zecora explained, gesturing to a series of small flaps of skin covering slits on Taylor's sides. "This way your breathing will work twice."

Taylor stared at the humanoid zebra for a moment before turning to Cindy. "Can you translate that for me, please?"

"I don't know all the details," Cindy hedged, "but I think they set you up with a second structure in your throat, so you can switch between swallowing or breathing, like normal, but you can also switch to a third tube. When you try to breathe underwater, your diaphragm will draw the water into special pouches before forcing it through your gills when you exhale. I'm pretty sure they tweaked things a bit so you'll be fine with a lower oxygen concentration when you're in the water… or that's one of the things they plan on testing when you're in the tank."

"Wonderful," Taylor grumbled.

"Thank you, Cindy, for the facts you relayed," Zecora said before turning back to Taylor. "Now, let's look at the rest of you before we are again delayed." She held up a small mirror, allowing Taylor to look over her face.

It was, as far as she could tell, exactly what she had agreed to a week before. Her lips were narrower, but not so narrow that they looked out of place, and the little aspects she had asked to have touched up were flawless. Over all, she was very happy with the outcome, even if something did seem off. "Is there anything else I should be aware of?" she asked, nervously. With everything going so well, she was rather worried about what else was lurking around the proverbial corner. It was about then that she realized what had been bothering her. She could see perfectly, but she wasn't wearing her glasses. It was a disconcerting feeling, after having worn glasses for so many years.

Cindy shrugged. "The only thing I can think of is that they've cleaned up your genetics and installed the climax control and breast enlargement chips."

"We like to calibrate while you're in the tank," Zecora added. "That way, you reaction on tape will be more frank."

"Great," Taylor sighed as she swung herself into a seated position. "Hey, my paunch is gone!" she exclaimed happily. "And I have boobs!"

Cindy smiled. "We'll give you a few minutes to get used to the new you, alright? Just try not to get aroused if you can help it." Taylor shot her a questioning look even as she was continuing. "We've got a lot to do today, and the first time your sensitivity mods kick in will be a doozy." She shrugged and added, "Sure, we could push some of it back, but if you spend the next few hours exploring yourself, you won't get a chance to check on your bugs or get any practice in on the firing range before your appointment to get empowered."

Taylor nodded. "You're right, I do want to check on my bugs. I think the spiders are getting really close to hatching, and I want to make sure they have food available right away when they do." She hopped off the bed, and began looking around until Cindy pointed her towards a set of clothing. She quickly began dressing.

"Make sure you have some fun," Zecora said, smiling. "You'll be quite busy before you're done. It was a pleasure to work with you, now farewell, unless you'd rather stay a spell?"

"No, thank you," Taylor said. "I've got a lot to do, so I should probably get started before we get distracted or something. I should probably get started now. I'm sure I can get used to my new body as we go."

Cindy shrugged. "That's up to you. I know it took me a bit to get used to it, but everyone is different."

"Feel free to visit if you want to talk," Zecora said as she led Taylor to the door. "Or if you'd like to try to make the bed rock. As I said before, you're rather pretty. I wouldn't mind getting down and gritty."

Taylor flushed. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She quickly made her way out side and started down the path back towards the storage shed housing her bugs.

"Bring your friends, the more the merrier," Zecora called after her. "And remember, species is not a barrier!"

[hr][/hr]

For the fifth time in as many minutes, Taylor attempted to adjust the glasses she wasn't wearing. She and Cindy were in the storage shed, looking over her insects. As she'd expected, they were doing fine. Her golden orb weaver had even caught a few moths, judging by the silk wrapped bundles stored in her web. "Grah, that's getting annoying," Taylor grumbled as she caught herself attempting to adjust her glasses again. "I'm too used to wearing glasses. It feels weird without them."

"We could always get you a pair with plain glass, if you'd like," Cindy suggested. "Some people like the slightly nerdy look, so it shouldn't cause any problems with your viewers. Just do whatever is more comfortable for you."

"I'm probably going to need to get a pair," Taylor acknowledged. "It feels weird not having them." She grabbed a convenient case and began packing her egg sack and a few bottles of Cricket Crush into it. "I'm set here, unless there's anything you think I missed?"

"I don't think so," Cindy replied. "Your housing should be set up soon, so they'll move your insects into a spare room there in a few days, so there's not much point in doing much more than the absolute minimum right now."

"That was my thought as well," Taylor agreed. "Especially if they're in my range most of the time. I'll be able to tell if they need anything."

"We might as well get going, then," Cindy decided. "We'll grab some food on the way to the range, then you can practice a bit. After that, we've got the empowerment ritual to get through."

"Do you know what that's going to entail?" Taylor asked as she stepped out of the shed.

Cindy locked the door behind her before answering, "Not really. It's not something I was ever really interested in, so I don't know how it'll compare to the usual methods. I do know that they're shipping in a bunch of mana pools to use, though."

Taylor turned to face Cindy before asking "Why? They already know what I'm planning on picking."

"I think they want to make it a spectacle, since we rarely get a chance to record and televise them," Cindy explained. With a shrug, she added, "If it's impressive enough, it might just increase recruitment, which would be useful. Not every planet has people invading just to provide entertainment."

"Will we have to worry about that here?" Taylor asked worriedly. Sure, she had wanted some experience before getting back to Earth Bet, but a full scale invasion was a little much.

Cindy thought for a moment before replying, "To the best of my knowledge, Babnockorty shouldn't be too much at risk. Still, the other magical girls would know more about what happens here than I would."

"I'll have to ask them when I meet them," Taylor decided.

"I think they're setting up a meet-and-greet right before the ritual, so you should get your chance."

"Oh, good," Taylor agreed distractedly. "Hey, do you think we can stop there for breakfast?" she asked, pointing at a cafe.

Cindy shrugged. "I haven't been to that one yet, so why not? Everywhere else here has been excellent, so I don't think McBagles will be any different." Taylor's stomach grumbled, causing Cindy to ask, "Eager to try out the new stomach?"

"You replaced my stomach?" Taylor yelped. "I don't remember agreeing to that!"

"No, no," Cindy said placatingly. "That was a figure of speech. They did the tune up on your digestion and everything, but it's still mostly original parts. Just… enhanced." There was an awkward beat before she added, "Anyways, let's get some food."

[hr][/hr]

"I hear you're going to be becoming a magical girl," the range master, Gaston LeGume commented as he handed a large rifle over to Taylor.

"That's the idea," Taylor replied, taking the rifle and quickly checking it over. Her temporary instructor looked on approvingly.

"You've only been on the range once, correct?" he asked.

"Yeah," Taylor admitted. "Why, am I doing something wrong?"

The burly man shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Your previous instructor did a good job drilling in the essentials."

"Well, he did have me learn how to disassemble, clean, and assemble the Arctic Warfare Super Magnum before I even got to the range," Taylor began as she lowered the rifle before picking up the magazine and beginning to load it. "Then he had me practice with a few smaller rifles before he let me try the AWSM, drilling me on safety all the while." With a shrug, she admitted, "I'm not the best shot yet, but I can cheat if I have to."

Gaston raised an eyebrow. "Cheat? How so?" he asked.

Having two gnats fly over, Taylor positioned them on the barrel and explained, "By having two gnats on the barrel and one on the target, I can make sure I line up my shot correctly."

"That might work in zero-g without any air movement," Gaston noted, "but you would still need to adjust for drop and windage with any normal shot."

"True," Taylor agreed. "But it does give me a starting point, and bugs are really good at detecting air currents and stuff."

"Still," Gaston said, "that's a bad habit to get into. It might work occasionally, but I'd rather you learn how to shoot the right way." He gestured down the range. "Now, let's get you practicing, and remember, no insects."

"I'll give it a try," Taylor gamely said. At least she knew she wasn't likely to break her shoulder or anything stupid like that. Laying down and steadying her rifle, she took her ten shots before kneeling back up. "So, how'd I do?"

"Not bad, not bad," Gaston replied. "If you keep practicing, you should be able to get a Marksman ranking soon enough."

"Thanks," Taylor said smiling. "And I've been told that becoming a magical girl can help with that, too."

"Don't you believe it," Gaston said dismissively. "Any skill you have will disappear as soon as you change back to your normal form, unless you plan on staying a magical girl all the time?"

"That doesn't sound ideal," Taylor noted with a wince. "I take it I should keep practicing like this, then?" She picked up a second filled magazine and fitted it into the rifle.

"That's what I'd do, in your place," Gaston agreed. "If you practice normally and regularly, your skill should carry over to your magical girl form." He paused a moment before adding, "Worst case? It makes no difference and you're still competent when you're normal."

"Thanks for the advice," Taylor said. "Now, let's get back to practicing. I've only got a little while longer before Cindy drags me to a meet-and-greet, and I'd like to try a few longer shots before we leave."

[hr][/hr]

"She's almost here!" Hope Celandine called as she hurried to her place. As the magical girl with the best scouting capability, she had had one of her ravens flying overhead, watching for the new girl's approach. "Everyone get ready!" There was a mad scramble as everyone found a place to hide, except for one little girl who stood in the middle of the room.

"What are you doing?" Joy Cassidy hissed from her position behind a couch. "You need to hide!"

Obsessive Rose shrugged. "I don't see the point," she opined. "Taylor already knows we want to have a welcome party, and she already knows where we all are."

"Oh?" Lucy Lewd asked, leaning out of the closet she was hiding in with her children. "How's that?"

Rose gestured to a fly buzzing around overhead. "She's had a few bugs in here watching us for the last five minutes."

"But Pip only just spotted her!" Celandine protested. She pouted and asked, "I take it that means I'm losing my position as team scout, huh?"

"Probably not," Rose said. "I've seen what she sees through her bugs… it messes with Infestation somehow, and I'd be surprised if she can make much sense of it already."

"Thanks," Celandine said, smiling ruefully. "Anyway, she's at the door, so we might as well let her in."

"Aw," Wicked Angelica complained. "I wanted to jump out and scare her."

"It wouldn't have worked," Cassidy acknowledged with a sigh. "You might as well come on out and meet her with the rest of us."

"Fine," Angelica grumbled, even as she came out from hiding.

"Stopped hiding," Taylor's voice drifted through the opening door.

"Your abilities ruin surprise parties," Cindy noted as she followed her charge into the room.

"I'm hoping it's just as good at spoiling ambushes," Taylor replied dryly. She looked around the room and gave a little wave. "Hi, I'm Taylor Hebert, as I'm sure you know."

Cassidy stepped forward. "Hello, Taylor. I'm Joy Cassidy, or just Cassidy when you want to be informal and we're in uniform. I'm the leader of this group." Gesturing to each girl in turn, she continued, "This is my second in command, Hope Celandine. Next to her is Wicked Angelica and Obsessive Rose. Over by the closet is Lucy Lewd and her kids, Paul and Laura." The girls each waved and gave a short greeting. "Grab something to drink and some snacks, and we can all sit down and chat," she suggested before heading over to the refreshment table.

Taylor followed, looking over the offered goodies, a surprising assortment of treats and healthier food, and picked a few things to eat while they talked, along with a cup of the provided punch. Presumably, at least some of the magical girls were older than they appeared, considering that the oldest still looked like she was only sixteen or so. Then again, one of the girls who looked like a little kid had been introduced along with her children, so it was safe to say appearances were deceiving. Snacks in hand, she made her way over to one of the couches and took one of the end positions. Rose quickly claimed the seat next to her as the others found their own seats. Cindy leaned against one of the corners, obviously staying out of the event as much as possible while still being there.

"Have you figured out what you're going to call yourself?" Celandine asked once everyone had gotten their food and seat. "The usual convention is your Well or Pit and then a name we can use as a shorthand." She gestured to herself and then to Rose before continuing, "That name can be of a flower you like," she gestured to the others before finishing, "or based off of your actual name in some way."

Cassidy jumped in to add, "You can use pretty much anything you want, including your own name."

"That's what I did," Angelica interrupted, jerking her thumb at herself.

Cassidy rolled her eyes and continued, "But it's generally a bad idea if you're worried about anyone tracking you down. The magical disguise field, not to mention our transformations, helps a lot, but the less you can connect to your real identity the better."

"I hadn't really thought about it," Taylor admitted. "Isn't being a contestant going to mess with the disguise stuff? Everything's going to be recorded and broadcast, right?" She looked around and added, "And do most magical girls use the Pits and Wells? I've only seen the emotional types so far."

"I can answer your first question," Rose piped up. "I'm not really a contestant myself, but I still have a bunch of cameras following me around a lot of the time because I'm the significant other of one, so it's kind of similar. I'm contractually obligated to be in magical girl form anytime I have anything to do with magical girl activities, and I needed to have my name approved by a Slut Life representative to make sure it wouldn't cause any problems. I happen to like roses, so..." She shook her head and got back on track, "Anyway, most people will forget about the connection when they aren't actively watching the show. They'll just think they watched two different people instead. You only have to worry about the most obsessed fans, but they're supposed to be pretty rare."

"It's a bit annoying," Angelica muttered. "I don't like not knowing who I'm working with, but I get why you'd want to keep the fans away. If any of them get too pushy, I just punch them. Works well enough."

Celandine signed. "We've been over this, Angelica. For some reason, Slut Life likes to have their secondaries keep their identities secret, at least while they're part of the show. You remember Sayaka with the contract girls, right?"

Angelica wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, she was a bitch."

Cindy took a step forward into the room and added, "I can answer this a bit more in depth, if you want." When the others gave her their attention, she continued, "I looked it up, and apparently it's because of one of our early contestants and her significant other. They were both magical girls, the contestant was an Obsession type and the secondary was a Cute type. They both used their real names, and the secondary quickly became more popular than the contestant. It didn't end well, to sat the least. Since then, we've done our best to discourage secondaries from relying on fame and require them to keep their identities secret if they do anything that could attract too much attention, just as a precaution.

"As to your other question," Cassidy began, "Babnockorty tends to keep its magical girls separated by type. They figure we work best with others with similar power sets. Most of the larger settlements have a few groups spread around while the small ones usually have a least a small group, though they often have a mix of types. If a threat pops up that one group is poorly suited for or is larger than they can handle, another group can be called in to help."

"That sounds a lot like how fire stations operate," Taylor noted.

"More or less," Cassidy agreed. "We've got two other stations here. One of those math girls with their AI-driven magical devices and a group of soul-contract ones."

"And we don't fight over territory or anything, right?" Taylor pressed.

Cassidy laughed. "Of course not. We're magical girls, not a gang. There's a dispatcher in City Hall who passes calls on to each group, usually based on how close the event is to a particular station or how big it is."

"It also depends on what our schedules are," Celandine noted. "Since there's only a few of us, and we're still human, or at least mostly human for those contract girls, they try to stagger our shifts for maximum coverage while allowing us a fairly normal life. That means there's times when a station may be completely empty."

"Of course, there's nothing stopping you from staying here during your off hours as well," Lucy added. "I'm here fairly often, since we've set up a fairly nice area for my kids and I do a lot of healing. It's better to have the urgent cases come here or have me go to them to stabilize them before they go to the hospital."

"'Course you might also be called away from school or any other job you have," Angelica commented. "Most of them are pretty understanding about it, since it's only done in an emergency."

"They may even call you away from your owners or punishments," Rose added, "though they may be a bit more annoyed about that."

"It pretty much only happens once or twice a year, though," Cassidy retorted, "So I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"That brings up another question I had," Taylor interjected. "What types of things do we usually fight?"

"Usually we get these clay-based humanoids," Cassidy replied. "They aren't terribly hard to put down, but there can be a lot of them at once."

"We usually try to get them into one place," Lucy added. "That way Celandine can blast most of them at once."

"The hard part is getting them into a nice, empty area," Celandine muttered. "My best attacks are a bit too indiscriminate to use in the middle of the city"

"We also get some feral demons occasionally," Angelica added. "They're really fun to fight, but they cause a lot of trouble if we don't get to them fast enough."

"If they're Shikima, we typically throw Lucy at them," Cassidy commented. "She drains them slightly faster than they drain her, so it keeps them from going after everyone else, and it eventually defeats them."

"Once!" Lucy declared while blushing furiously. "That only happened once, now can we please forget about it?"

"What's a Shikima?" Taylor asked, having not heard the term before.

"They're a type of sex demon," Cassidy explained. "They tend to go after schoolgirls, and are a pain in the ass to deal with." She shuddered before elaborating, "Tentacles. Lucy's right, though. They don't show up all that often, and there's enough people who are into that kind of a thing that it isn't usually too much of a problem."

"That's good to hear," Taylor replied. "Anyways, I think I only have one more question. Do I get to learn your real names?" she asked. "You all know who I am after all."

"Sorry," Rose answered immediately. "I can't tell you. It's in my contract. No one here knows it."

"As for everyone else," Cassidy began, before looking around at the other girls. They each nodded in turn. "We'll show you what we really look like and tell you our real names after you go through the ritual but before the show starts." Looking over to where Cindy was standing, she added, "But we won't be telling Miss Matos. No offense, but keeping our real identities private is important."

"Don't worry about it," Cindy said, waving off the comment. "I completely get where you're coming from."

Taylor nodded. "All right, that'll work for me," she said. "Do any of you have any questions for me?"

"Can you really control bugs like a dark magical girl?" Laura asked from where she and Paul were sitting, nibbling on some snacks.

Taylor smiled and stood up, walking over to the door. "Yes, yes I can," she replied before opening the door, allowing a handful of butterflies to enter the room and flitter around the younger girl as she made her way back to the couch.

"Just don't try controlling them yourself around her," Rose grumbled. "I can't make heads or tails of real bug senses, and whatever she does scrambles things so I don't get the magically clear images I usually do."

Cindy looked at her watch before cutting in, "If anyone else has on questions, you'll need to make it quick. They want to start the ritual at twenty-six thirty, and it'll probably take us a while to get everything set."

"It's that late already?" Lucy asked in surprise. "I need to be getting the little ones home, it's almost their bedtime."

"Aw," Paul whined, "bud I wanna play wid the budderflies."

Taylor chuckled at that as she stood up. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to play with them later." Heading over to the door, she paused and asked, "Where are we doing the ritual, anyway?"

[hr][/hr]

"Hello and welcome to a rare treat," the unseen announcer said as the camera panned over a large chamber with an indistinct magical circle in the middle of eleven large and oddly colored crystals standing on pedestals. There were also two empty pedestals that were obviously still part of the circle. "Most magical girls are empowered in the field, but today we've got an inside view of an out of combat empowerment! Don't adjust your screens because you can't make out the details of the magic circle, that's intentional. These rituals can be deadly if performed incorrectly."

A sliver of light appeared from 'behind' the camera as a door opened, growing to show silhouettes before Taylor walked into the middle of the room wearing a simple white robe and carrying a book and a chain with a glowing white crystal hanging from it. Two others followed in elaborate costumes, but stopped outside of the magic circle.

"This is going to be an emotion-based empowerment," the announcer continued. "That said, those who are versed in these things may note that this chamber only holds eleven mana repositories instead of the full thirteen. This is intentional, as Miss Hebert will be participating on Slut Life. Due to issues with mana overloading previous contestants that drew from them, the Light-alignment Lewd Well and the Dark-alignment Carnal Pit are blocked by the circle in this chamber."

Taylor had been instructed to lay down in the middle of the circle, the book placed in one of the smaller circles next to her and the pendent placed in another circle on her opposite side. Once she was situated the other two started around the outside, sparks of light jumping from their fingers as they touched each of the crystals. Each crystal started to glow as it was activated, and those observing carefully would note that they alternated between each other as they moved around the circle. Once they were done they said something to Taylor, before both reaching down and touching the very edge of the circle. A moment later it glowed, and the two retreated, closing the door behind them.

"Now it's on Miss Hebert," the announcer whispered, as though speaking loudly would cause problems. "She'll need to focus to pull on the reservoirs." The crystals visibly pulsed, and a tendril of energy reached out from one of them towards Taylor. "And there she goes. Unless I'm mistaken she's going to be drawing upon the Light-aligned Will well." The tendril made contact with Taylor's chest, then the energy spread out to cover her entire body. Tendrils then came from half of the remaining crystals, the ones in between them having their glows fade.

When the other tendrils were all connected, the glow around Taylor became fully obscuring, just before two tendrils formed from the glow around her. The new tendrils reached over to the book and crystal and coated them as well. They were also fully obscured by the energy a moment later.

"Now we must wait while she communes with the Wells to make her choices," the announcer said in their normal voice. "While we won't know what those are we can try and make educated guesses when her new form is revealed. Unlike a field empowerment she should have plenty of time to make her choices. When she's done with her choices the reservoirs will glow a little brighter as the stored mana is used to lock her choices into place."

The unused crystals suddenly pulsed, their glows returning to full strength before a tendril reached out from one of them. The announcer seemed to be in a state of shock as the tendril reached into, but did not seem to _connect_ with the glow obscuring Taylor. A moment later the remaining crystals also reached out with tendrils that joined the first.

"I..." the announcer said, sounding unsure of themselves. "I'm not certain how or why, but I believe the Dark-aligned Obsession Pit just activated. This isn't supposed to be possible, and the experts we have watching are just as confused as I am."

They didn't get to speculate any further as _all_ of the crystals seemed to explode with light and energy, the feed cutting to static a moment later.


	24. Preparation 2:8

Preparation 2.8

[hr][/hr]

"Good morning, girls," a female voice rang through the room, rousing the two preteens. "I know you're probably a little confused, and I'll do what I can to explain things."

The two girls sat up, nearly in unison, and turned to look at the speaker, a young woman wearing a lab coat. "That'd be nice," one of the girls began.

"Could you start by explaining why we seem to remember stuff I'm sure we weren't around for?" the other asked.

"Ah, yes, that," the woman began. "To start, my name is Violetta Seward. I'm one of the New Body Coordinators here. Now, before we begin, I need to check. What are your names?"

The girls looked at each other before one replied, "I'm Zoe Rose Hebert."

The other girl chimed in, "And I'm Ashley Silvia Hebert, but you can call me Ash."

Violetta nodded and made a note on her tablet. "Good," she commented, "you're differentiating nicely. There's always some concern that the memories form the primary contestant could cause problems with the sibling's ego, so we do need to check."

The girls both smiled and nodded their understanding.

"Now," Violetta continued, ignoring the girls' obvious lack of understanding for the moment, "we usually try to use the same base contract when a contestant chooses Siblings or similar choices. However, the higher ups have decided to allow you to use a more complete catalog."

"Does that change things?" Zoe asked, biting her lip nervously.

"Oh, heavens, yes," Violetta replied. "First, let me explain what Taylor already signed you up for." She tapped her tablet before saying, "Under the original contract, you would each have thirty-eight credits to start with. Taylor signed you up for the bare essentials for a long, healthy life." She looked over the page again and quirked an eyebrow. "She also signed you up for the Water Chamber punishment, which seems a bit out of character for her."

Ash grinned. "Oh, it's because she wants us to be able to breathe if the worst happens and Leviathan tries to drown us or something."

"I...guess that makes sense," Violetta agreed shakily. She coughed as she recomposed herself. "Unfortunately, under the new contract, you will be starting with eight credits, due to some differences in pricing." The girls were obviously upset at that, so she held up a hand and added, "Now, before you start arguing, the new contract will be better for you, and we've already received permission to replace your education option from the Entertainment section with the School job, which will have you starting with the original thirty eight credits and you'll also receive educational credit for the work you do should you decide to live at least partially on Earth Bet."

"That's… probably worth it," Zoe agreed, looking over at her sister.

"It'd make things easier for Dad when we get there," Ash agreed. "I say go for it."

"Agreed." Looking over to Violetta, Zoe asked, "Where should we go from here?"

"Well, as it currently stands, unless one of the other roommates decides to bring something with them, you will be stuck wearing Taylor's clothing, which probably won't fit you, and eating baby food."

Zoe and Ash wrinkled their noses in disgust. "No thanks," they said in unison.

Looking at her sister, Ash asked, "Food?"

Zoe nodded and stated, "Clothes."

Looking between the two, Violetta asked, "Which do you want to start with?"

The two girls had a brief staring contest before Zoe sighed while Ash did a little dance. "We'll start with the food."

[hr][/hr]

"What caused that mana wave?" Emperor Malik demanded of his Field Marshall. A massive wave of mana had blasted through his outer sanctum only an hour before. While nothing seemed damaged, all of the mana detection devices were sounding their shrill alarms. If they weren't shut down soon, he knew he would soon have a pounding headache. He was already getting worried about his hearing. "Are we under attack?"

"I am not sure, My Liege," Field Marshall Asmodeus answered promptly. "We will be putting our forces on high alert until we know for sure."

"Do that," Emperor Malik ordered. "We are going to be essentially blind until the mana detectors can be deactivated and re-calibrated. I nearly _saw_ that." Settling down into his throne, he added, "I want you to step up patrols and send out more scouts as well. We need to know what happened and if it can be done again." He paused for a moment before asking, "Other than our mana detectors, has there been any damage or casualties?"

"If you will pardon me for a moment, My Liege, I will find the most up to date information on that," Asmodeus said. "However, as of the last time I checked, half an hour ago, the only damage has been to devices unusually sensitive to mana surges, and most of those had adequate shielding to withstand the mana wave. We estimate about two percent of our sensitive equipment, that which was currently undergoing maintenance, was affected. There were only five casualties, where engineers were actively working on components that exploded with the surge. There were no fatalities, though one of the technicians will never see again."

Malik sighed. "Make sure he is compensated accordingly and see about getting shielding on the entire maintenance depots. Maybe something portable as well."

"It will be done," Asmodeus intoned.

"Has this seriously delayed my plans?"

"No, My Liege," Asmodeus answered. "We built in a margin for unexpected events. It would take something far greater than a mere mana fluctuation, even at larger magnitudes than we just experienced, to slow our preparations."

"Good," Malik replied. "You are dismissed. I expect a detailed report on damages, casualties, and proposed countermeasures in the morning."

"Yes, My Liege," the Field Marshall said before he turned, making his way out of the inner sanctum. He had much paperwork to do and not much time to do it in.

[hr][/hr]

Violetta nodded as she made the final notation on her tablet. "That takes care of the clothing and food. And you're only one credit in the red." Looking over the tablet, she added, "Which nicely segues into the next topic. A lot of people try to go into what you can get out of the run first. I prefer to start with what you're willing to pay. Then you know what you have to work with before you need to start making any of the hard choices."

Once again, the girls shared a look before Ash asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"I figured we could start with the most unpleasant topic," Violetta began. "Punishments."

"Can we see what Taylor picked?" Zoe requested. "It might give us some ideas."

"Certainly," their helper agreed, pulling up the relevant section. "Here you go. Just keep in mind that she was working with a much more limited form, so she may have picked some things she otherwise wouldn't have."

The girls looked the form over and winced. "Oh, she did not think that one through," Ash opined.

"Definitely not," Zoe agreed. "Think we should take that one as well? For moral support?"

Ash nodded. "That was my thought, as well. Maybe it won't be as bad if we're all on display together." Pointing at another punishment, "And we should probably travel around with her as well." Looking even further down the list, she asked, "Wait… shouldn't we already be signed up for Tentacles? We're sharing a small apartment, right?"

"There is nothing small about where you'll be living," Violetta said. "Though I do agree with your assessment. It should be safe enough to sign up for that. Even if they decide to give each of you your own tentacle pit, it won't be any more dangerous than you were already expecting."

"Some of the other punishments look pretty amusing," Zoe noted, once they'd returned to the main punishment menu. "Especially with the controller options. Would we need our own AI, or could any AI controlled options be handled by Taylor's?"

"I'll have to check," Violetta replied, pulling out a cell phone. "Keep looking through there and make note of anything you find interesting. I'll look up the answer for you."

"Thanks," Ash said as she quickly flicked through the available options. Nudging her sister in the side, she asked, "What do you think about this one?"

[hr][/hr]

Velma Platt stepped out of the Slut Life provided car and looked at the large house. "This is not an apartment," she noted cautiously.

"Ah, yes," her driver, a tall, thin man who had introduced himself only as Jenkins began, having also exited the vehicle to start retrieving her bags. "From my understanding, someone put in and paid for an upgrade order. Each of you should be able to have your own deluxe bedroom, rather than needing to at the very least double up."

"That's nice," Velma replied, a bit faintly. She looked around the front of the house for a moment. There weren't any lights on, despite it being early evening, and all of the blinds were open, showing no movement inside. Cautiously, she asked, "Has anyone else arrived yet?"

Jenkins shook his head. "No, you're the first to arrive, though I understand most of the others should be arriving over the course of the next day or so. They're planning on having the meet and greet with everyone in two days and will be starting the show the next day."

"That quickly?" Velma asked in shock. "I thought they'd at least give us a few days to get used to each other."

Jenkins shrugged. "The polls show that the audience likes to watch all the awkward getting-to-know-you bits, so we try to minimize how long you have to work out any issues before we start filming live. Of course, that mostly applies to the contestant. If the roommates are squabbling enough, it detracts from the other aspects of the show. That said, we are still filming before then for promotional purposes."

"I see," Velma lied. "Anyway, we might as well stop standing out here. Let's get my stuff inside. Do you know if we have assigned rooms already, or is it first come first serve?"

"From setting up previous roommates in the past," Jenkins began, "it changes from show to show. Some have assigned sleeping quarters while others rotate rooms based on any number of factors. Until that is worked out, I recommend unpacking the bare minimum you need for the next few days, in case there's a reason you need to set up the rooms differently. Then again, the viewers love drama, and there are plenty of rooms available, so you should feel free to stake one out as your own."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Velma said as she grabbed a few of her lighter bags. "Now, come on, let's get this stuff inside."

[hr][/hr]

"All set with the punishments?" Violetta asked, as the girls pushed the tablet away again. They nodded, so she continued, "Why don't we take a look at the jobs next? You don't actually need any, but you might want some spending money beyond what Taylor gives you or to make a nice nest egg for after the show ends. From the sounds of things, especially with the choices Taylor made for you, she plans on having you stay around, so you might not need that nest egg, but it's always nice to have, right?"

Zoe and Ash exchanged looks, taking that advice to heart and silently agreeing to go into the same jobs unless something really cool was available that one wanted but the other would hate. "Show us what you've got," Ash said leadingly.

"Certainly," Violetta replied. "Now, the jobs range in credits from five credits for an hour of work up to forty credits for six hours of work, though I doubt your sister would appreciate either of you becoming a porn star, based off of what I've read about her."

"Probably not," Zoe agreed. "Anything else we should know before we get started?"

"Yes, actually," their helper began. "You're already signed up to go to school, and that'll take six hours out of your schedule already, so you can only take up to another ten hours worth of jobs. You can also make your school experience more… trying… in order to get more credits for it."

"Yeah..." Ash hedged.

"I think we'll skip that," Zoe concluded. "We've got enough memories of what Taylor went through without adding our own, thanks."

"That's perfectly understandable. Now, would you like me to explain each job, or would you like to just browse them?"

"I think we're fine just browsing," Ash replied.

"But we'll ask you if we have any questions," Zoe added before both girls turned to the tablet again.

[hr][/hr]

Henrietta Womack watched in near giddy excitement as the first of her new neighbors arrived. There was a new contestant in the area, and that meant new sources of materials for her. "Ooh, I can hardly wait," she crooned to herself.

There was a general misconception among non-alchemists, that all fluids, especially sexual ones, were the same, regardless of who they came from. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each individual had their own potential, their own little quirks, that made their fluids better in some potions than in others.

This just led to another reason she was so excited about her new neighbors. She would be getting six of them at once, and if she could convince all of them to contribute materials, then she should have a wide range of options when it came to expanding her craft.

That wasn't even counting the benefits of having an insect controller nearby. Alphonse Flemal on SLO had been right about that. There were certain secretions that were nearly impossible to acquire in any meaningful amount without painstakingly distilling it from hundreds of samples that could, theoretically, be milked from insects.

"Oh, I need to make sure I have enough bottles and extractors ready," Henry muttered to herself distractedly, turning away from the window. While all of her new neighbors could share extractors, it would cause a small amount of contamination, which she would either need to remove or otherwise account for. Using dedicated extractors for each of them, on the other hand, would keep the samples pure. "So much to do, so little time," she complained, making her way to her storage area.

She'd need to load up a cart to bring her supplies over. Once she got the first few samples and could see what she would be working with, she would determine how much credit each sample would be worth. Once she had that in hand, she could provide them with a price list for her various wares. She'd also need to see about contacting Slut Life over the marketing rights. Having her products officially associated with a specific contestant would only improve her sales, after all.

[hr][/hr]

"I think that's good for now," Zoe said as she pushed the tablet back towards Violetta.

"We can always come back if we need more credits," Ashley added. "What's next on the list?"

"Next we have the owners," Violetta said. "They're good for filling up time if you're looking for something to do, but they can also be very demanding and don't provide very many credits, proportionally, unless you get some of the more strict ones. A lot of them will also demand to have sex with you, so keep that in mind if you decide you want any owners. I usually recommend them for the end when you're trying to make up any deficits."

"That sounds like a good idea," Zoe replied. "We definitely don't need to be rushing in to things."

"And I'd like to have at least some free time," Ash added. "From what it looks like, Taylor will be lucky to be able to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time."

"There is that," Violetta acknowledged. "Of course, since you don't need to worry about a number of things your sister did, you can also avoid a lot of the more onerous issues."

"Right," Zoe said, shaking off a slightly glazed look. "Are there any other sections we can go through to get points or are we pretty much done with them?"

"There's a few more," Violetta answered, "but most of the only other sections I can think of are the Time Adjustments, which you aren't eligible for, since Taylor didn't take any, and the Experimental Drugs, and then only if you get either mandatory injections or have them become permanent. You can also have the drugs' release be controlled, but that'll start costing you credits. It'll still be a net gain, though."

Ash sighed. "I don't think we'll be interested, but we might as well take a look, right?" Zoe nodded her agreement.

The girls took a moment to look through the various drugs available before Zoe looked up and asked, "Why would we want to take any of these?"

"I mean," Ash continued, "I could see the strength booster, and maybe the stamina booster, being useful, but 'might include a loss of strength?' What's with that? It doesn't even say how common the side effects are!"

Violetta shrugged. "I don't really know how the different drugs work. You'd need to ask a scientist about that."

"All of the side effects are awful," Zoe agreed. "I don't think I want to risk any of them."

"Same here," Ash concurred. "Got anything else?"

"A couple of the body mods grant credits, as do a couple of the entertainment options, but other than that? Not really," Violetta admitted. Shrugging, she continued, "We might as well start with a part of the contract I think your sister overlooked: Health and Hygiene. Now, she may have just been sparing you additional points, since you'll be getting basic healthcare and you can use her supply of the essentials, but you may be interested in the more advanced options."

[hr][/hr]

Smaug grumbled to himself as he continued shoveling gold into one of the number of expanded trunks he kept for this purpose. He had forgotten one of the main reasons he had stopped participating on Slut Life a few years ago: moving was a bitch. It was fine when the contestants were assigned to a planet where he was already living, but far too often they liked to send them out to relatively new worlds, in the hopes of inspiring colonization.

That was all well and good, but Smaug wasn't a young dragon anymore, and his hoard had expanded substantially over the years, making packing and unpacking it a pain in the tail. Of course, he didn't really _need_ to take his entire hoard, but he also didn't trust the young whippersnappers he had bested to become Taylor Hebert's owner to leave his lair alone over the course of a year. Younglings tended to be petty like that.

He really should have started packing more than a week ago, but he'd been preoccupied with coming up with new plans for Taylor, a number of which he'd practiced with his sex slave. And, while Kasumi had done a lot of packing over the last week, she couldn't really pack his hoard. Gold is rather heavy for humans, after all. So it was up to him to shovel his mounds of gold, silver, and gems into the waiting trunks.

He definitely wasn't going to be jumping straight into sex with Taylor. While he could, and was entitled to do so, the girl had had a hard enough of a life already without him adding to it by screwing her on the first day. Besides, he was a dragon. He knew how to be patient. He could at least wait until they'd gotten to know each other a bit better, and he had some ideas for activities that would let them learn about each other while still entertaining the audience. He also had plans for the favor Cindy owed him now, but that was for later as well.

He looked up in surprise when Kasumi came running into his hoard room. "Master," she called, lapsing into the subservient language she still used when emotional. "You need to come see this!"

"What is it, Kasumi?" Smaug asked, lowering his head to be closer to her level. She insisted she didn't mind when he towered over her, but he preferred being closer to her level.

"Your new contestant, Taylor just went through her empowerment ritual," Kasumi explained hurriedly.

"So they decided to do that tonight?" the dragon grumbled to himself. He would have appreciated getting a call, so he could watch it live, but he understood how busy things could get leading up to a show's start.

"Yes, and something went strange," Kasumi continued, gesturing for Smaug to follow her back to their living area. Just because he liked sleeping on gold didn't mean he was going to force Kasumi to, so he had set up a small side cave with comfortable seating, a nice bed, and a television for her, though he did have to admit to enjoying the television as well.

Shaking his long length out, he began following her. If she was going to interrupt him like that, it was probably something important, especially since she was still wearing her normal clothes. "What happened," he asked as he made his way into the thoroughly stripped room. Everything, other than one chair and the television, had already been packed, the boxes stacked in the corner waiting to be picked up.

"I'm not sure," Kasumi replied as she fiddled with the remote to start the segment over. "They decided to try something new, and, well..." She let the video play, watching silently as the empowerment went out of control, until everything faded to white.

Smaug blinked in surprise. "That's definitely not normal," he commented. "Can you give Cindy a call? She should know, or at least be able to find out, what happened and if Taylor is alright."

"I can do that," Kasumi said with a nod. "I take it you want to get back to your packing?"

Smaug winced at the mild rebuke. "Yes," he finally said. "You were right, I shouldn't have kept putting it off."

Kasumi nodded again. "You get back to that. I'll give Cindy-chan a call."

[hr][/hr]

"Now that you have your healthcare set, what do you want to look at next?" Violetta asked. "Body mods or entertainment options? I recommend starting with the body mods, but it's up to you."

Zoe and Ash nodded. "Are there any you recommend?" Zoe asked.

"Well, Menstruation Control, Easy Pregnancy, and Healthy Babies are always a good start," Violetta explained. "Most of the girls going through grab those, even if they're keeping everything else pretty much stock. And there's a few combinations that'll give you additional credits without any major downsides."

"Anything else we should know?" Ash asked. "Anything we can't take, or anything like that?"

"Since you're defaulted to New Body, there aren't any restrictions," Violetta stated. "Strictly speaking, you aren't actually done being grown yet, so we can still add anything you want before we decant you."

Zoe blinked. "We're still in a tank somewhere?" she asked, looking around the plain but obviously real room.

"We temporarily uploaded your minds into a virtual office," Violetta explained. "Once we're done here, we'll unplug you and finish your modifications and the last of your growth."

"Does it let us model changes before we get them?" Ash asked excitedly.

"That is one of the purposes for using this setup," Violetta confirmed. "Your current appearance is what our predictive software says you will look like should no further changes be made."

"Neat!" Ash cheered. "I'm going to try all the things!"

"Please keep in mind that not all of the modifications are physically apparent," Violetta cautioned. "And sensations will be at least somewhat dampened, as the inputs are simulated."

"That's no fun," Ash pouted while Zoe patted her back consolingly.

"There, there, we can still have fun," Zoe said placatingly. "Now, why don't we start by seeing how we'd look with all the boobs?" She poked at the tablet's screen a few times before asking, "How do we get the preview to work?"

[hr][/hr]

The newly minted magical girl looked over her form in surprise. When she had accepted the magic into her body, this was definitely not what she was expecting to happen. Judging by her hands, she was much smaller than she had expected. Still, that shouldn't be anything too difficult to adjust to.

Looking around, she was greeted by a wholly unexpected landscape. As far as she could see, from horizon to horizon, the land was flat and cracked. Here and there she could make out what looked like the flattened remains of what could have been a rock, a tree, or something else entirely. It was very obvious that the only living things within miles of her location were herself and her familiar, which had just appeared next to her.

Looking up revealed a sky covered in roiling yellow clouds. The sun was shining through them, but it was being diffused into a hazy, dim circle in the sky. The clouds were also beginning to spiral, indicating that a powerful storm was about to erupt. The wind was also starting to pick up, swirling loose sand and grit into the air. Staying for the storm looked like an increasingly uncomfortable option.

She took a moment to look at the tome that appeared in her left hand as she called for it, the tool ready to lend its aid in casting the spells it contained. A quick look showed that none of the three spells in it would be of any great use. Closing the book, she allowed it to close and dissipate before looking up at the darkening sky above. The clouds had darkened considerably already, and the first drops of rain could be seen falling in the distance.

Deciding it was time to leave, before the storm could break, the magical girl concentrated, her outfit shimmering for several seconds as it changed in both coloring and design. With a nod, she lifted her hands and began crafting the spell. Slowly, a gateway formed in front of her, breaching reality between her location and her intended destination. Finally, once it had formed, she stooped down, scooping her familiar into her arms, and strode through the gate, allowing it to close behind her.


	25. Preparation 2:9

Preparation 2.9

[hr][/hr]

"All done with the body mods?" Violetta asked tiredly. The two girls had tried every physically noticeable option at least once, and had tried playing with a few of the others just to see what they might be like, even if it was a pale shadow of the real thing. Just watching them go at it had been exhausting, and she was beginning to wish she could convince them to calm down. Unfortunately, one of the problems of being in the virtual office was that physical tiredness wasn't a real issue, even if the mental fatigue could become significant.

"I think so," Zoe said, wrapping her hair around her sister in something similar to a hug. Apparently she had enjoyed the prehensile hair option and was planning on keeping it.

"I really want a fang," Ash muttered, pouting. "But I should see what else I can get first."

"You're already going to be looking for ways to make back some credits," Zoe pointed out, giving her sister a light shove.

"You took most of the same mods I did!" Ash protested. "Including some I didn't bother with, like the hair!"

"And, yet, I'm not the one who needs to make back credits," Zoe retorted haughtily, turning up her nose.

"Why you..." Ash growled warningly, right before she pounced on her sister and began tickling her.

Yes, dealing with lively, young children was definitely tiring, Violetta decided yet again. Really, she wasn't sure why she kept offering to help them. Then again, if not her, who would? "Calm down, girls," she called. "There's still plenty of things to look over. Why don't we have a look at the entertainment options?"

Ash perked up from her perch on her sister's supine form. "That sounds fun!" she chirped. Standing up and bounding back over, she eagerly looked on.

With a slight roll of her eyes that she hoped the perceptive young girls wouldn't notice, Violetta made a point of waiting for Zoe to stand, brush herself off, and make her way over to join them. Only then did she flip over to the entertainment options. "Here you go," she said, handing the tablet over again. "Now, even if you don't intend on using it, I highly recommend taking the porn and Viewer's Choice options, as it doesn't force you to use the porn and it'll earn you a few credits." She paused for a second before adding, "Granted, you could just use Taylor's porn on her computer if she lets you, but why worry about it when signing up for it yourself doesn't have any downsides?"

The girls exchanged glances then grinned in unison. "Sounds good to me," they chorused.

Violetta sighed. "I can see the twin-speak is going to get tiring," she commented wearily. "At least I won't have to deal with it too much longer." Shaking off the fatigue, she added, "You can also gain points using the various Outside options, though I don't recommend it, as it may make things rather… unpleasant for you. And your sister is likely to swarm anyone who tries anything, which is usually bad for ratings."

"Usually?" Zoe asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Sometimes people like to see how long it'll take others to get the fairly obvious point," Violetta elaborated while not explaining anything. The girls were going to be on Slut Life, sure, but they hadn't seemed especially interested in the sex, and it was her job to get them as close to what they wanted as possible, within the existing constraints.

"Any other suggestions before we start looking through things?" Ash asked.

"Well, Taylor didn't take any of the gaming options," Violetta noted, having flipped back to Taylor's form to check, "so you might want to pick up either the tabletop games or some of the gaming systems."

"What type of games?" Zoe and Ash asked.

Violetta rolled her eyes before answering. "The table tops games include a wide range of board games as well as role playing games and card games. You would need to get the entertainment system to get console games, and you'd need a second option to get more than just a few games. You can also get computer games, but that would require having a computer. Of course, having a computer is generally useful anyway, so you may want one just to have."

"I'll take the tabletop games," Ash offered.

"And we can share the computer and its games if I take it," Zoe offered. "I think I'll also sign up as a Professional Gamer, too. That way I can get paid to play, right?"

"It'll more than pay for the games you'll get," Violetta offered.

Ash whistled as she looked at the change selecting those options caused in her sister's sheet. "Wow, and you were making fun of me for being in the red. Making that up is going to be hard."

"I don't think it'll be that bad..." Zoe replied, failing to hide her wince. "Besides, you haven't taken your options yet."

"Well, yeah, but the tabletop games are a lot cheaper than that!" Ash protested.

"And we're not done yet," Zoe retorted primly. "Who knows what else you'll want to pick up."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Zoe scrolled through the options quickly before stopping on one that caught her eye. Pointing at it, she said, "Like a hoverboard."

Ash looked at the item's cost and winced. "Damn it, how am I going to pay that off?"

"So I take it you would like to get a hoverboard?" Violetta asked. "And you can easily pay for it through additional jobs or punishments, taking at least one owner, taking Slut Life is its Own Reward as your reward option, or some combination thereof."

Ash relaxed fractionally. "That doesn't sound so bad," she said. "Yeah, I'll take the hoverboard."

"Definitely doable," Zoe agreed.

"Now, before we move on to any adjustments or rewards you'd like to take," Violetta began, "Are there any other entertainment options you'd like to get?"

"Give us a minute!" the girls chirped before they crowded over the tablet to look at the other options more closely.

[hr][/hr]

Cindy was watching over her sleeping charge when her cell phone rang. Taylor had transformed at some point during the ritual, shrinking down significantly while her clothes shifted into a flowing dress, done up in patches of lighter and darker fabric, with a short, seemingly tattered cape that would hang behind her if she were standing. Her skirt came down to her knees and looked equally tattered, with a pair of shorts underneath, and functional boots and stockings covering her feet and legs.

According to the magical girls, falling asleep after the empowerment ritual was, while unusual, not unheard of, providing there wasn't an immediate threat. They said the process was sometimes stressful, and Taylor had only just finished her body mods that morning, so that probably wasn't helping.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she picked up the phone on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hello, Cindy-chan, it's Kasumi Tendo," the pleasant voice came over the phone. "I'm calling for Smaug-dono."

Cindy nodded to herself. Smaug often had Kasumi make calls for him whenever he was busy or didn't feel like fighting with making his own calls. "What can I do for all old smokestack?" she asked.

"We just saw the empowerment ritual Taylor-san went through and he wanted to see if you knew what had happened," Kasumi explained.

"We're not really sure," Cindy admitted. "It took a while for the light show to stop, and once it did, Taylor was sleeping. We're waiting for her to wake up to find out if she knows what happened. All the bugs in the area are acting strangely, as well. One of the camera techs tried to kill a fly, and… well, it didn't squish. We're not sure what exactly that means, yet, but it could mean Taylor is directly empowering the bugs in her area… which could be worrisome."

"Oh my," Kasumi said, "I hope nothing too bad happens to her." There was a sound of clanging and jangling in the background. Hurriedly, Kasumi added, "Can you give us a call when you know more? Smaug-dono just knocked over the boxes of kitchen supplies, so I need to go help with that."

"I'll give you a call," Cindy agreed. "You go help the great lug. Take care, Kasumi."

"You, too, Cindy-chan," Kasumi answered. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again."

"I think you mean tasting," Cindy replied with a chuckle.

"That, too," Kasumi agreed impishly before terminating the call. Sighing in fond remembrance, Cindy settled back to continue waiting for Taylor to wake up.

[hr][/hr]

The twins looked up from the tablet and, in unison, said, 'We're done! What's the next section?"

"You two are going to drive somebody crazy," Violetta noted. "Anyway, next up are the two sets of adjustments. As I mentioned earlier, you can't actually take any of the time options, since Taylor didn't take them, and, even if she had, you would still be restricted to the same length of service that she picked. The only real choice would be about what you wanted to do after the show finished. As is, you'll be free to do whatever you want after the year is over, including signing back up for your own full runs."

"Makes sense," Zoe replied.

"We can't really leave early and stop being Taylor's owners, right?" Ashley asked.

"Yes, exactly that," Violetta agreed. "So, with that out of the way, we can move on to the miscellaneous adjustments." She flicked the tablet to the correct screen and set it down for the girls to see.

"Are there any we definitely should take?" Zoe asked, looking over the list.

"Most of them don't currently apply to you," Violetta admitted. "Though I'd still suggest taking Caretaker if you want to keep any kids you have. Safe Word is another one that is often a good idea, even if you shouldn't use it that often."

"Taylor didn't take Caretaker," Ash pointed out.

Violetta nodded. "Yes, she thought having Safe Word would be more important, and the form she was using didn't allow her to take more than one adjustment from this section."

"That's not right!" both twins shouted, glaring at their helper.

Violetta raised a hand placatingly. "We know," she said. "It was a mistake on the form. They should be letting her know that they've fixed that for her, along with a few other issues they found."

"That's good," Zoe said.

"We're definitely taking that option, too," Ash added. "Even if we don't plan on using it."

"And Safe Word," Zoe added. "We want that one, too."

"No problem," Violetta replied, making the notations. "Anything else you want to take right now? If you want, Zoe, you can change who gets priority over your hair."

Zoe shook her head. "I think I'm good with keeping it standard. I'll keep it in mind if I have any extra credits to spend, though."

"I can think of better things to use extra credits on," Ash grumbled.

"And I think that brings us to the Rewards," Violetta noted, trying to move things along. Navigating to that part of the form, she added, "Unfortunately, you can't pick New Home, since the house belongs to your sister, not you, but you can pick any of the other options. I'm not sure New Game+ is worth it, though, since you'll just wake up next to your tank before the show starts."

"Well, fuck a duck," Ash grumped.

"Language!" Zoe snapped in a surprisingly accurate approximation of Annette Hebert's voice.

"Sorry, Mom!" Ash yelped reflexively. "Damn it, Zoe," she snapped as she realized what had happened. Shoving her sister, she shouted, "That wasn't funny! Stop laughing, damn it!'

Finally the two settled down again, allowing Zoe to ask, "Do you have any recommendations?"

"It really depends on what you want to get out of this," Violetta replied. "If you want an easy run, with as little hassle as you can get away with, I'd recommend taking Slut Life is its Own Reward. If there's something your really want to get now, go for it. It'll make things a bit harder on you now, and you could get it later by being a contestant, but it's ultimately up to you."

The two girls spent a few minutes looking over the different options before coming to their decision. "We'll take the extra credits," they chorused.

"The only other thing on there I'd want is the spaceship," Ash added, "and the Simurgh would probably break it on me."

"Or you could just keep it here," Zoe noted.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Ash protested. Shrugging, she added, "I can wait until I do my own run if I really want one. It'd be nice, but at least I'll still have my hoverboard, and _that_ I can bring back home with me."

"If you're planning, or at least considering, having your own run later on," Violetta began. "I often recommend taking Slut Life is its Own Reward, especially for our younger secondaries. It allows you to have a much easier time of it, and you won't be losing out on much."

The twins considered that for a moment. "What about getting powers?" Ash asked, looking toward her sister. "Earth Bet is pretty dangerous, and that could help keep us safe."

"Yeah, but didn't Mom do a research project in college showing that capes were more likely to get into fights and killed than random civilians?" Zoe countered.

"Oh, right," Ash said thoughtfully. "That was after she left Lustrum, right?" Zoe nodded. "That study was flawed," Ash protested. "It works on statistics. More normal people who end up in the middle of cape fights end up in trouble than the capes. And we do live in Brockton Bay."

"There is that," Zoe admitted with a wince. "Still..." She thought about it for a while before finally agreeing, "I guess you're right. But there's a better way to get powers without paying for them."

Ash smiled ferally before asking, "Magical girls?"

Zoe nodded. "Magical girls."

Turning to face Violetta, they chorused, "We'll take Slut Life is its Own Reward, please."

"Got it," Violetta replied with a nod. "Now, would you like to work on your jobs first or go straight to the Owners?"

"We'll finish the jobs first."

[hr][/hr]

Setsuna Meioh sipped at her special stash of scotch, aged in the Gates of Time for longer than she wanted to think about, as she waited for the last of the Senshi to arrive. The others already present were wondering why she had called this meeting, especially after she had put them on high alert late the night before, but she only wanted to go through this once. Suddenly, the door slammed open and a blond girl sprinted in. Setsuna made a mental note to check the door frame later, just in case.

"Sorry I'm late!" Usagi announced as she skidded to a halt in the room, sliding across the wooden floor in her socks, her shoes still falling into the provided basket next to the door. Even as she was sitting down, she asked, "What did you find out? Is there a new enemy? Why are we on high alert?"

Setsuna took another soothing sip of her alcohol before starting. "If you'll be patient for just a moment, I'll explain." There was a little fidgeting among the girls, but they settled back down quickly. "Late last night, there was something I could only describe as a mana pulse that radiated through the aether. When I tried to track it back, it led well outside of the solar system."

"It was really strong," Rei added. "It even woke Grandpa up."

"It also registered on the Mercury Computer's sensors," Ami chipped in. "I've been analyzing it since I woke up to your alert, and the results are unusual, to say the least."

"What did you find?" Usagi asked.

"As far as I can determine, it was an unfocused mana spike, though it did have a dimensional component," Ami explained.

Turning to Michiru, Usagi asked, "Can the Neptune Mirror find anything out about it?"

Before Michiru could reply, Setsuna stepped in. "That won't be necessary," she stated. "I already know what happened, and we can stand down the high alert."

"What was it?" Haruka asked. "It could still be a threat, right?"

"Yes, it could still be a threat," Setsuna admitted, before taking another pull on her drink, "but that's rather unlikely to happen. One of my contacts from outside sent out an explanation to… pretty much everyone they could. Apparently, someone was trying a modified empowerment ritual." Dryly she added, "Things were a bit more energetic than they expected. They're still analyzing things on their end to see what happened and how likely it is to happen again."

"If it's from outside our reality, how could it still be a threat?" Minako asked reasonably.

"It could be like Pharaoh 90," Hotaru said quietly.

"No," Ami cut in, "the dimensional harmonics were all wrong for something like that. It involved far too many dimensions for something like Pharaoh 90 to be involved."

"Ami is right," Setsuna said. "The girl in the ritual would not be able to invade here the same way Pharaoh 90 did. However, she might have access to spells that would allow her to do so."

Usagi nodded and asked, "So we're taking a wait and see approach?"

"Pretty much," Setsuna replied. "It is made even more difficult because we can't actually track her actions until she is in our reality, or at least a more directly adjacent one." She took a moment to splash more scotch into her glass. "I'm told she's likely to be reasonably heroic unless pushed, though, so we shouldn't have any problems."

[hr][/hr]

"Are you all set getting your jobs set up?" Violetta asked. The girls nodded, so she added, "Ash, we're going to need to send you halfway across the planet to get your puer magicus empowerment done, but you can still work alongside the girls. And neither of you are going to be getting a specialized empowerment ritual, not after what happened with your sister. Now, you both still need to pick up some extra credits. Would you rather do that through punishments or owners?"

The girls looked at one another before Zoe said, "I think we'll start by looking at the owners again."

"It should let us make up the credits we need faster," Ash added.

"Without doing anything too uncomfortable," Zoe concluded.

Violetta took the tablet and set it to the correct portion of the form. "I have no problem with that. Now, who were you two thinking of getting? Remember, you can't share owners at the same time on a regular basis. And, please, don't pick siblings. It either has us trying to squeeze three separate eight or twelve hour periods into an already cramped schedule or causes a crisis of infinite siblings. Neither is fun to deal with."

The girls looked over the lists, muttering between themselves while weighing the merits of each choice. Finally, Zoe asked, "What's the deal with the ghost?"

"We have a number of ghosts looking for temporary accommodations in living bodies," Violetta explained. "As it happens, most ghosts can't feel or taste much of anything in their normal state. Some try to get around this issue in rather… unpleasant ways, such as floating through rotting food. Others possess people in order to use their senses."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "Most magical girls and pueri magici tend to hunt down the ones who do this without permission. First time offenders usually get a warning, and often an offer to find them willing hosts, while repeat offenders and those more… insistent spirits are dealt with in a more permanent manner."

"So they aren't going to do anything too extreme with their hosts?" Zoe asked.

"No, Possession Certified ghosts won't do anything the host is adamantly opposed to unless that's part of the rental agreement," Violetta explained. "They may push the boundaries of your comfort zones, but going too far is a good way to get their license revoked. Each ghost fills out a survey detailing what sensations they are interested in experiencing and we, along with the various other body rental agencies, do the best we can to accommodate them safely."

"Why do you even have ghosts?" Ash asked. "Can't they just get reincarnated or something?"

"Most people who stay as ghosts are afraid of reincarnation for one reason or another," Violetta replied. "Some worry that it'll fundamentally change who they are, while others don't want to pay for any of the services that could do it for them. Other just like being ghosts. We tend to focus on those ones, since they tend to be the most stable."

The girls shared another look before asking, "Can we share the same ghost if we have different days?"

Violetta smiled. "That shouldn't be an issue," she said. "Now, that should put you both back into the black, and, unless I'm mistaken, you should have at least another eight hour slot open in your schedule if you wanted to have a second owner."

"I think we're good for now," Zoe stated. "We should still have enough leftover credits to pick up a few of the things we had decided against, so we should be fine, right?"

"Well, that should definitely work," Violetta conceded. "Shall we head back to the body mods, then?"

"Yes please!"

[hr][/hr]

"She's waking up!" Lucy Lewd called, causing the others to turn toward her. They'd been waiting for this to happen for quite a while, so they had decided to take turns watching over Taylor's sleeping figure until she woke.

"It's about time," Wicked Angelica grumbled. "I wanted to go to bed _hours_ ago."

Joy Cassidy sighed. "We told you, if you wanted to go home and go to bed, you didn't have to stay here."

"But then I'd have to wait until after school to find out what Taylor got!" Angelica complained.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked, helping Taylor to sit up.

"Pretty good," Taylor replied, before stopping suddenly. "My voice is a lot higher," she noted. Looking down at her chest she snapped, "Damn it, I just got those!"

Cindy chuckled as she came over. "Well, you look like you're about twelve, so that makes sense."

"Don't worry," Obsessive Rose said from Taylor's other side. "You'll get your boobs back when you transform back to your normal self."

"I'm glad I don't have to worry about that," Angelica commented smugly. She thrust her chest out a bit. "It's one of the perks of being an 'older' magical girl."

Lucy made a shooing motion with her hands, gesturing the others back. "Give her some room," she said reprovingly. "She'll need a moment to adjust."

"Thanks," Taylor said, swinging her feet off the bed to stand up. "This is harder to get used to than my body mods were this morning." She paused for a moment before sheepishly asking, "It is the same day, right?"

"Almost," Cindy replied. "It's about six in the morning. You've been out for a little more than twelve hours, which is surprising, considering you only need four hours a night."

"Lucky," Angelica grumbled, stifling a yawn. "I need the full eight hours, and I've got school in a couple hours."

"Don't give us that line," Hope Celandine cut in. "You've taken plenty of naps while we waited. You'll be fine for a day."

"And if not," Lucy added, "you can always go to the nurses' office and get dismissed."

"Maybe I'll just call in sick," Angelica mused.

"You'd better not!" Cassidy declared. "You should have known better than stay up all night! The rest of us got plenty of sleep, right?"

Rose yawned. "I might have stayed up too long," she admitted. "But I think I'll be fine."

"Good," Cassidy said, before turning back to Taylor. "Now, Taylor, there's been rumors that girls who sleep after their empowerment get prophetic visions. It didn't happen to any of us, so I have to ask, did you see anything?"

"Yeah," Taylor said with a nod. "I don't really remember it, though. Something to do with the supercomputer in my head." She gave her head a shake, as though that would knock something loose. "It was like something stretched, or twisted? Either way, whatever it was was starting to fray and fall apart. But then light started replacing and supporting it, and I found myself on a featureless plane. The only other one there was another magical girl, that I didn't recognize but feel like I should, but the light connecting to me was darkness connected to her? Kind of a gradient but not? It's hard to explain. After that, we were in a city, and there was some nebulous force, and girls were falling over left and right. I'm not sure what that was about, though." She paused for a moment. "Nor why I feel like someone made a mistake with dragonflies. I was _happy_ about it, I think, but really?"

"Well… That's ominous," Cassidy opined.

"Very foreboding," Celandine agreed.

"Anyway," Cassidy continued, thinking the description over. "Is that it? No other details you can remember?"

"Er, I think there might have been a black sun in the sky?" Taylor offered. "Maybe? It covered pretty much the entire sky as far as I could see, though the plane was also on fire. Dunno what that was about."

"Sometimes the sun or a fire shows up as a representation of mana pools and such," Rose offered, looking at her phone.

"That doesn't sound quite right in this case," Cassidy replied with a shake of her head.

"Well," Lucy piped up, "we can think about it more later, in any case. It's late and only getting later, so we should probably get to bed." She paused for a moment and sheepishly added, "I'm not sure Taylor will want to sleep, though."

Taylor yawned, surprising everyone. "Well, I think that settles it," she said. "I'm still tired enough to sleep some more. Whatever happened to me, it definitely wasn't restful."

Cindy stifled a yawn before she also spoke. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for bed, and I still need to call Kasumi back."

"Who's Kasumi?" Taylor asked.

"Come on," Cindy urged. "I'll tell you on the way back to the hotel. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get to sleep."

"We should all be heading to bed as well," Cassidy replied. Looking at Angelica, she added, "Especially you."

"Yeah," Angelica agreed before yawning mightily. "I definitely need to get to sleep."

"Let's try to meet up tomorrow," Cassidy said. "We can discuss that vision more then." The others agreed and they left, making their way back to their homes for a late night's rest.

[hr][/hr]

"Alright," Violetta began wearily, the mental fatigue of dealing with the two preteens showing through her professionalism. "Now that you've balanced everything out, all that is left is looking things over and making sure you haven't missed anything glaringly obvious."

"I'm pretty sure we didn't miss anything," Zoe began.

"But it's a good idea to check," Ash finished.

"While we're looking," Zoe added, "can you tell us what happens next?"

Violetta watched for a few moments as the girls checked over their entries, making sure everything was how they wanted it, before speaking. "Next we'll finish your growth, which should be done early tomorrow. After that, we'll send Ash off to get empowered by the pueri magici in one of the other settlements while Zoe gets taken care of here. You are going with the emotional mana sources, correct?"

"Yes," the girls replied in unison.

"Alright, good. That'll ensure you're at the same station as your sister, though I can't guarantee you'll be there at the same time."

"That's fine," Ash answered for both of them. "Oh, and that reminds me. I was wondering, why aren't the pueri magici set up here as well?"

"There's a very good reason for that," Violetta replied. "For some reason, which I don't know, the mana needed for the magical girl empowerment only works on this side of the planet, while the pueri magici empowerment only works on the other side. Once empowered, both groups are fine anywhere on the planet, so, while both groups could mix, they've determined that it's easier to just stay apart unless something major happens."

"Thanks," Ash said. "That was bugging me a bit. I really didn't want to find out I'd need to commute halfway across the planet every day for work."

"You're welcome." Violetta continued, "Once you're both empowered, we'll bring you over to the house, where you'll meet Taylor's other owners and neighbors. After that, the show will officially start, and you'll need to figure out what you want to do to keep the ratings up, unless you want to get spanked, of course."

"Let's avoid that," Zoe said dryly. "Even with the masochism mods we took, it doesn't sound very fun." Ash nodded her agreement. Handing the tablet back over to Violetta, Zoe added, "Anyway, I think we're set. Everything looks good."

"Yup," Ash agreed. "I didn't see any problems."

"Well, good. In that case, we'll just submit the forms and get you back to your bodies so you can finish growing," Violetta said. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you. Have fun over the next year, and I look forward to seeing your full runs in the future." With that said, she signed out of the virtual office, leaving the two girls behind until they, too, were disconnected.

[hr][/hr]

Taylor yawned as she made her way toward the hotel. Cindy followed her example a moment later. "What are the plans for later today?" she asked, not wanting to walk along in silence.

"I think they have you scheduled for orientation at your jobs," Cindy said. "And, if you'd like, there should be time to practice shooting some more. Then, in the evening, they'd like to have you give another interview. And there's a few things we need to go over about your magical girl outfit."

"Is there something wrong with it?" Taylor asked defensively, looking over her costume.

"Not really," Cindy replied. "However, since you picked Walking Billboard, there's a minor issue we'll need to resolve."

"Oh?" Taylor asked. "What issue is that?"

"You currently aren't wearing anything lewd or promoting Slut Life or its sister companies," Cindy stated flatly.

"Oh. That," Taylor said with a wince.

"Exactly," Cindy continued. "That. Now, there's two fairly easy ways to deal with this. Either you try to pin a prominent patch on that fits those guidelines or you license your magical girl image for the year."

"What would that accomplish?" Taylor asked, confused.

"It would allow us, meaning Slut Life, to use your image, as a magical girl, to create iconic t-shirts, posters, action figures, and so on," Cindy explained. "You'd get a small percentage as royalties, and, for the purposes of Walking Billboard, you'd be considered to be promoting Slut Life whenever you were out or about in uniform."

Taylor nodded thoughtfully. "That does sound like a good deal," she commented. "Can I think about it and get back to you?"

"Sure," Cindy replied. "And, keep in mind, after the year is over, you can renegotiate the license, either getting a higher royalty on each item sold or ending the agreement entirely."

"I'll think about it," Taylor repeated. "Now, what was that about another interview?"

"It's mostly to go over your body mods," Cindy replied. "Give the audience some idea what changes you had done. And, if you decide to license you magical girl image, there'd be a second interview to promote that as well. Possibly with a small demonstration of what you can do."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Taylor replied.

"It shouldn't be," Cindy agreed. "But, fair warning, some of the hosts like probing personal questions about why you picked or didn't pick certain mods."

"Yeah, well..." Taylor began. Unfortunately, her retort trailed off when a brightly glowing portal tore its way into existence before the two of them. "Get behind me!" Taylor ordered, stepping between Cindy and the portal. A large gun formed in her hands, which she leveled toward the vortex, waiting for whatever emerged.

She was not expecting the dark blur that exited the portal to go straight for her waist, latching on. Once it stopped moving, the blur resolved into the form of a girl, around eight years old, wearing a dress that was mostly purples and blacks, with ribbons going… somewhere. It was really hard to get a good look at them. Her hair was the type of black that looked purple under the right light, like the streetlights around them, and her skin was surprisingly pale.

Weirdly, Taylor thought she recognized the girl, even though her hair, eye, and outfit colors were all different than she thought they should be. She was distracted from that thought when the lump on the smaller girl's shoulder moved, revealing itself to be a small tentacle monster. The little monster lunged forward and wrapped itself around Taylor's mini-dragon, nuzzling the surprised lizard's face.

"Taylor!" the girl cried, trying to burrow her face into the older girl's stomach. "I found you!"

Taylor looked down at the girl, at a loss for several moments. Finally, she gathered her wits enough to ask, "Who are you?"

The girl looked up at Taylor, revealing purple eyes. "It's me, KNFqPRY5E1YrSYfPH00!" Whatever the girl had tried to say, that last bit came across sounding like someone trying to imitate a fax machine mixed with the sounds of an _actual_ fax machine. She frowned, saying that last word again. "That's not right," she muttered, trying yet again before giving up. "I let you do this!" she finally said, raising a hand and letting a moth land on it.

"I'm sorry, what?" Taylor asked.

"I let you control all sorts of things, silly," the girl insisted, giggling lightly. "And now I'm human and I get to stay with you and everything's great!"

"You're saying you're the supercomputer connected to Taylor?" Cindy asked.

The girl tilted her head in thought. "I think that's what the computer talking to me eight planetary rotations ago called me..."

Cindy turned to Taylor. "What do you say? Think she's trustworthy?"

Taylor nodded. "I think so. I kind of recognize her from my dream-vision-thing. Her being connected to me like that would make sense for what I saw."

"Right," Cindy said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "It is far too late to be dealing with this now. Want to just go back to the hotel, put her on a cot, and deal with it in the morning?"

Taylor was staring blankly into space. Shaking herself out of her fugue state, she replied, "Sure. I think I've had enough shocks for the day."


	26. Preparation 2:10

Preparation 2.10

[hr][/hr]

Taylor awoke to the strange sounds of a small dragon being assaulted by an affectionate tentacle monster. It did take her a few moments to realize what the sounds were, as she wasn't used to having her animal companion around quite yet. She looked over and saw her mini-dragon attempting to ward off the tentacle monster with small puffs of pink flame. It wasn't very effective.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Taylor grumbled as she rolled out of bed, nearly stumbling when she didn't account for the low cot holding what was apparently a humanized biological supercomputer, and made her way to the desk where the two animals were wrestling. "Leave her alone," she demanded as she reached down to forcibly separate the tentacle monster from her dragon.

This proved to be a mistake, even as the maneuver accomplished its goal, as the little monster allowed itself to be removed from the pink dragon only to wrap its limbs around Taylor's arm. For her part, Taylor could only look on nonplussed as the tentacled menace began rubbing against her arm affectionately. Giving her arm a few experimental shakes, Taylor sighed and asked, "You're not going to let go, are you?"

"I don't think so," the magical girl on the cot replied. "She's lonely and likes hugs."

"Well, so long as that's all she wants," Taylor decided, "I guess she can stay there for now." Turning around, she looked over the purple clad girl. "So you're my power, right?"

The girl held up a hand and tilted it side to side. "Kind of," she replied. "There's a lot more to me than just that." She pouted and added, "I just have a lot of me locked down right now."

Taylor thought about that for a moment before commenting, "I think the scientists are going to want to talk to you about that. They might even be able to help you with that, right?"

The source of her powers smiled at that and cheered, "Yeah! That sounds like fun!" There was a soft grumbling noise and the girl flushed. "I think my stomach wants me to fill it. How weird is that? Ingesting material for caloric value rather than for base materials… kind of wasteful, isn't it?"

Taylor shrugged helplessly. "It's what we've got, though." Opening one of the desk drawers, she pulled out a pamphlet and asked, "Want to get room service?" The little girl rushed over to look over the menu. After a minor argument where Taylor had to convince the younger girl that they didn't need to order everything, they settled on getting a few sampler plates so that she could figure out what she liked without wasting as much food.

[hr][/hr]

"I see you enjoyed breakfast," Cindy commented as she looked over the several empty trays arrayed around the room.

"We wanted to see…" Taylor trailed off before looking over to the other magical girl. "We really need come up with a name for you."

The girl pouted and huffed. "But I have a name. I just can't get it to translate into something you can understand."

"We still need something we can call you," Taylor insisted. "It's rude to talk about you like you're not there, and we'll need a way to address you."

"Preferably in a way that won't need either a recording or altered vocal chords," Cindy added dryly. "Is there anything you'd like to be called?"

The girl grumbled and stamped her foot. "I _want_ to be called by my name, but it's not translating right."

Cindy pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Why don't we try to come up with a name to use now, and we can change it later once you figure out how to get the translation to work properly."

"I'm going to have a hard enough time figuring out a magical girl name for myself," Taylor noted. "I've got nothing for you."

"I'm admittedly not the most creative person with names, either," Cindy agreed. "Though I might know some people we could ask for suggestions."

Taylor grimaced. "We won't end up with with something like McSquirrelFace or something, right?"

"Ha, no," Cindy laughed. "They wouldn't do something stupid like that." She paused for a moment before adding, "Probably."

Taylor looked over the younger girl for a moment before saying, "There's no harm in asking, right? You might find a name you like. Worst case, we ignore their ideas and keep looking."

"I guess that's fine," the younger girl replied sullenly.

"Great," Cindy began, flexing her hand and bringing up her phone. "Now that that's settled, we've got a few things to take care today, and it'll take them a while to come up with some ideas."

"What's first?" Taylor asked.

"Well, you had mentioned wanting to test out your magic gun, so I've set up some time on the range for you," Cindy said.

Taylor perked up. "That sounds like it could be fun."

"Though you might have something of an audience," Cindy admitted ruefully. "A lot of people seem interested in seeing what you can do."

Taylor sighed. "I guess I'd better get used to people watching me, right?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, we might as well get going."

[hr][/hr]

"I'm coming," Velma Platt called as she made her way out of the kitchen towards the front door. She had just been finishing breakfast when the doorbell rang, so she had left her dishes in the sink to take care of later. It wasn't like anyone else was around to complain about it if they sat there for a few minutes, after all.

Once she reached the door, she paused for a moment to take a calming breath before opening the door. "Um, hi," the girl on the other side said. Velma blinked as she quickly took in a few key details. The girl had green hair and square rimmed glasses. Horns rose from her temples and wings spread out behind her, along with a swishing tail. Watching the tail led her to a more important detail. There was a medium sized rolling suitcase sitting next to her on the porch.

"Oh, hello there," Velma greeted the girl standing on the doorstep. "Are you going to be living here as well?"

"Ah, yes, I am," the green haired girl said, fidgeting a little. "I'm She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday, and I'm going to be one of Miss Hebert's owners."

Velma smiled. "It's good to meet you," she said. "I'm Velma Platt. I'm going to be another of Taylor's owners. If you don't mind me asking, which owner will you be? I'm a Cutie."

She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday blushed slightly and hesitantly said, "I'm a Succubus."

Velma blinked. Some of the girl's features could be considered demonic, such as the wings, horns, and tail, but she had thought those were a stylistic choice. She'd seen weirder online, after all, and had even briefly considered getting a set of wings of her own. She still needed to do more research on which insect wings would be the most practical on a human frame before she made any decisions on that front. "Well, come on in," she finally said, gesturing into the house. "We've got a bunch of empty rooms, so I guess you can pick whichever one you want. We might have to change them later, but that's no reason to be uncomfortable in the meantime, right?"

"I guess," She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday said as she stepped into the house, dragging the suitcase behind her. Looking around, she commented, "It's bigger than I was expecting."

"I know, right?" Velma agreed. "They told me we'd be in an apartment, so I was trying to psych myself up for sharing a room. That won't be an issue now, though." If she was being honest with herself, Velma had to admit she wasn't sure if she was happy about the change or not. On the one hand, she would now probably have a room to herself. On the other hand, she really had been looking forward to all of the sleepovers. Shaking herself, she asked, "So, succubuses eat lust, right?" Without giving She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday time to answer, she followed up with another question, "You can eat normal food, too, right?"

It took She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday a moment before she answered. "It's succubi, actually. And I can eat human food, too. It's not enough to sustain me, but it still tastes good." She paused for a moment before adding, "Er, why do you ask?"

"Well, I made some cookies last night," Velma replied, "and you're the first person to arrive after I did, so I wanted to see if you wanted any."

"Cookies?" She-Who-Always-Needs-Hugs-In-Large-Doses-Everyday exclaimed. "Sure, I'd love to try some!" With that said, the two girls made their way into the kitchen to enjoy a quick snack.

[hr][/hr]

It had taken a while to get everything set up at the range. Apparently, one of the scientists had guessed their plans for the day and had insisted on having sensors hooked up to record everything from Taylor's accuracy to any exotic particles her magic might produce. All told, had been a full hour since the time they had arrived and she still hadn't been deemed ready to shoot. "Is this all really necessary?" she griped as a few last sensors were placed around her booth.

Professor Daniel Akkeman nodded vigorously. "Oh, yes, definitely," he said. "We had Doctor Zecora take readings while you were being modified, so we have a baseline for your original and new normal state, but we still need to gather information on you as a magical girl. We'd like to get a baseline of your new abilities before you have too much practice with them. That way, we'll be able to track your growth. The scientific study of magic is still a nascent field, after all."

Taylor sighed in defeat. "Fine, set up all the sensors you need."

"Oh, don't worry, we only have a few more to calibrate and you'll be ready to go," Akkeman said reassuringly. "Unless there's a computer glitch or something, we should be ready in fifteen minutes or so." He paused for a moment before adding, "And look at the bright side, you weren't here setting up for half the night."

Taylor winced. "What time did you start?" she asked out of morbid curiosity.

"Oh, around the time you were waking up, I believe," Akkeman replied. "It brought back memories of all nighters during college, it did. Oh how I don't miss those days."

"Well, in that case, I think I'll head over to the shop and have another cup of tea," Taylor decided. "Hopefully you'll be done when I get back."

"Go ahead," Akkeman replied, waving Taylor off. "We won't need you until the last calibration run, so you have some time."

"Thanks," Taylor called as she made her way over to the concession stand. "Can I get a tea and a small thing of fries?" she asked once she reached the counter.

"Sure, no problem," the clerk replied. "Just make sure you wash your hands before heading back to the range." He shuddered. "You do not want to see what Mr. LeGume will do if you try to shoot with greasy hands."

"I do take range safety and gun maintenance very seriously," Gaston agreed from behind Taylor. "It's bad enough that I have to allow those scientists to cover my beautiful range in their equipment." He sighed. "Still, it is good to know what you can do with your equipment before you try using it off of the range. And at least you're doing things correctly, unlike that other one."

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, accepting her basket of fries and her drink from the counter clerk.

"Hi, Taylor!" an excited voice singsonged.

"Damn it, she's here..." Gaston groaned. He and Taylor turned to see Obsessive Rose making her way toward them, dragging a large case behind her. "Hello, again, Rose," Gaston said with obviously forced cordiality. "I take it you want to practice as well?"

"Of course!" Rose shouted enthusiastically. "I heard Taylor was going to be here, and I wanted to see how I'd do compared to her."

"So I'm not the first magical girl using a real gun?" Taylor asked, looking over the girl's gun case, which looked identical to the one Johnson kept his AWSM in.

"That depends on how you want to look at it," Rose said cheerfully. "The person who helped me with determining what kind of magical girl I wanted to be mentioned you. It sounded really neat, so I decided to try as well." Ruefully, she admitted, "I didn't have as much time to learn how it works, though, so she got me a real gun, so I wouldn't need to form all of the mechanical parts from memory."

"She also refuses to practice in her normal form," Gaston griped.

"I told you, it's contractually obligated," Rose said defensively. She poked her forefingers together and added, "And I don't actually know how to shoot properly without the magic helping."

"Which is why I want you to practice more without it," Gaston insisted.

Rose waved him off. "I will, I will," she said placatingly. "After my contract is up."

"I'll hold you to that, brat," Gaston stated. "Now, Taylor needs to finish her snack and wash her hands. I'll be getting the rifle for her to use before she transforms. If they're going to use my range to test her abilities, they're going to do it properly."

Taylor blinked and took a sip of her tea before placing the drink down on Rose's case, where it would be steady and not cause a mess. "Do I really need to use one of your rifles, though?" she asked Gaston. "I've got mine right here, right?" She held out a hand and concentrated.

Her audience of two watched as motes of lights formed in the air and coalesced in her hand, forming the long shape of a sniper rifle. "That's awesome!" the clerk from the concession stand exclaimed, startling the three in the group. Their attention had been riveted on the display of magical might.

Shaking himself, Gaston noted, "I'm sure the scientists will agree, but I want you to use that alongside a mundane rifle. It'll be interesting to see how a magically constructed weapon compares to a real one."

Taylor sighed. "Yeah, I'm not sure why I thought that wouldn't happen." Perking herself up, she added, "Well, they should be done setting up, so we might as well head over and ruin the scientists' day, right?"

"Might as well," Gaston agreed heartily. He paused for a moment before muttering, "I may need to speak to my therapist about lingering issues with intellectuals." Speaking louder, over Taylor's questions, he finished, "I'll go grab the rifle and meet you over there, alright?"

He quickly left, leaving Taylor staring after him. Rose, on the other hand was still staring at the gun in the older girl's hands. "Liana is going to flip when she hears about this. Or be unbearably smug." She tilted her head in thought. "Probably both."

"What was that?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, nothing much," Rose said quickly. "Don't worry about it."

[hr][/hr]

"Cindy," the humanoid supercomputer whined, "why can't we watch Taylor?"

Cindy sighed. She was beginning to see the downsides of being around Obsessive magical girls. This was already the third time the girl had tried to convince her to let her watch Taylor's testing. "I already told you," she began, forcing herself to remain calm. "We wouldn't be able to see anything, since the range doesn't have a spectator section, and they like to keep the number of people around not firing down as much as possible."

"But I want to watch!" the purple clad girl griped.

"Again, they won't let us," Cindy repeated. "Besides, the people I have brainstorming names for you didn't take as long as I thought to come up with some names. Don't you want to pick one out? You can surprise Taylor with it," she weedled. Hopefully mentioning Taylor would be enough to sway the girl. If not, she wasn't sure what she'd do with her until Taylor finished at the range.

"I was hoping she'd help with it," the magical girl admitted.

Cindy sighed. She honestly hadn't expected that plan to work right away, but it had been worth a shot. "Why don't we go and listen to their ideas anyway?" she suggested. "That way you can think about them for a while. See if any of them feel better than the others. Then you can tell Taylor the ones you liked and she can help you determine which one is best."

The girl perked up, much to Cindy's relief. "I guess that could work," she said.

The redhead smiled. At least she wouldn't be trying to keep the girl out of the gun range for the next hour or so. "Come with me, we'll need a nice, private room for the discussion," she said, taking the magical girl's hand. Hopefully none of the suggestions would be too dumb, and hopefully one of them would be to the girl's liking. After all, she was getting tired of referring to the girl as 'the supercomputer,' 'the girl,' or other descriptive names. It was almost as bad as referring to her as 'hey you.'

[hr][/hr]

"So, who's going to say it?" Lucy Lewd asked as she looked over the ritual room with Joy Cassidy and Hope Celandine.

Celandine looked over the ritual circle, now burned an inch into the floor. "I'll say it. What the hell did we just add to our team?"

Cassidy looked at the mana crystals still arrayed around the circle, two of which were completely drained while the rest were heavily depleted. "Whatever she is, I'm just glad she's on our side," she admitted. "Of course, the other question is how much of this is due to her being weird and how much is because we had a proper ritual circle with far more mana available than was even remotely reasonable?"

Lucy shrugged helplessly. "I don't think we're likely to find out until the next time we use the circle. And I don't think they'll let us try it again anytime soon."

"True enough," Celandine agreed. "That was a bit more… energetic… than I'd been expecting. I'm pretty sure they felt the mana wave it put off on Earth… or will in a few years. How fast do mana waves propagate again?" The others shrugged. "Well, I'm sure we'll find out eventually." She looked down at the circle again. "So, think we're going to be making this thing permanent?"

"I don't see why we shouldn't," Cassidy replied. "Taylor already did the hard part, carving out the symbols for us. We'll just need to fill them in with something permanent."

Celandine nodded. "And Taylor and I should probably supply some blood for it, using the Blood Rite. It'll make the whole thing more efficient and robust."

"Well," Cassidy said decisively, "it doesn't really change anything right now. Let's head back and get ready to answer any other questions Taylor has before the show starts. We'll also need a good way to keep any of the cameras out when we show her our civilian identities."

"True," Lucy agreed. "Even if people can probably figure mine out if they try." She looked at a clock on the wall. "And it's time for me to head out. I need to pick up the kids. I'll meet you at headquarters later, alright?"

"Sure, we'll see you there."

[hr][/hr]

"Ah, good, you're back," Professor Akkeman said as Taylor approached. "Er," he began, pausing for a moment as he looked between the gun Taylor was holding and the case Gaston was carrying. Despite the large range instructor's strength, the scientist could still see the obvious heft of the case, which brought up an interesting question. "Where did you get that gun from?" he finally asked.

"It's my rifle," Taylor replied succinctly.

"When did you get a rifle of your own?" Akkeman asked in confusion. "And why don't you have a carrying case for it?"

"It's my magical rifle," Taylor said slowly, as though the answer should be obvious. "Should I have a case for it?"

"No, no, that's fine," Akkeman said hurriedly, waving the concern off. "I just wasn't expecting you to use it until after you transformed." He looked down at the spreadsheet he'd set up on his computer to record the test results and sighed. "I guess we can add a few more tests. We're going to want to see how your shooting compares with your gun and with a mundane weapon."

His subject shrugged. "We figured as much," she said. "Which did you want me to start with?"

Looking up from the new columns he was making, Akkeman made his decision, "We may as well start with the control, that is to say, the mundane rifle. It'll give us a better baseline for your abilities."

"Alright," Taylor replied before her weapon dissipated into a shower of multicolored sparks. "Looks like I'll need to borrow your gun again first, Gaston."

The man was already kneeling next to his open case, fitting his rifle together. Akkeman took a moment to savor working with competent assistants, rather than the useless undergrads he usually had to deal with. Once the rifle was assembled, he handed it off to Taylor, who took a moment to check it over before lying down in her stall. "Good," Gaston grunted approvingly.

Akkeman switched to another application on his laptop for a moment, looking over the data coming from the sensors. "Taylor, would you be able to scooch over two inches to your right?" he asked. "You're not quite in line with the sensors." Taylor scooted over. "That's perfect. We're ready for your first shot."

"Right," Taylor said. "Firing." A moment later there was a crack as she fired.

Akkeman nodded in satisfaction. "All of the sensors are reading well. Continue as you will and we'll establish a baseline."

"No problem," Taylor replied, lining up another shot. Four cracks later, she ejected the magazine, slotted another into place, and continued shooting. Once the second magazine was depleted, she asked, "Is that that enough to set up a base line, or do you want me to keep going?"

"Why not try a set while you use your insects for aiming?" Gaston suggested.

Akkeman looked up from his computer incredulously. "She can do that?" he demanded in surprise.

"It helps a little," Taylor admitted. "I still need to know what I'm doing, though." Akkeman noticed two gnats fly down and land on the rifle as Taylor switched out to a fresh magazine.

[hr][/hr]

Florian Zilberschlag looked over his partner's shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"A few minutes ago, Professor Akkeman added some columns to that spreadsheet he's using to keep track of Miss Hebert's results," Vanna Zabala replied as she continued typing.

"That's not an answer," Florian complained.

"Fine," Vanna said, turning away from her console for a moment. "They're going to be doing a lot more tests than we're prepared for."

"So?" Florian asked. "Adding extra columns for the data should take care of that, right?"

Vanna shook her head sadly. "It might, depending on what they're testing and how much detail they want, but Miss Hebert is already up to fifteen shots, and hasn't even switched to her magical girl form." She turned back to the computer and resumed typing. "There's going to be a lot more data than we originally planned on, especially judging by the titles of those columns. And it's going to be us at fault when he doesn't have the data he wants."

"But shouldn't adding the extra columns fix the issue?" Florian asked.

Vanna growled in irritation. "Sure, if we only wanted to keep some simple data. Hell, he might even be able to handle it all if he adds enough columns to handle each, individual shot. He still oversimplified it to hell and made a mess out of the back end. Rather than deal with the mess he's bound to dump on us, I'm going to get this thing set up correctly now."

"Teacher's pet," Florian scoffed.

"Look, just because I actually care about my work," Vanna shouted, spinning in her chair. She took a deep breath to calm herself before saying, "No, arguing with you isn't worth it. Leave me alone and let me do my work in peace." She turned back to her computer and continued her coding.

[hr][/hr]

Taylor was laying on the ground with her rifle snug against her shoulder. Considering she was currently in her magical girl form, and wearing a skirt, she was rather glad her outfit also contained a pair of shorts. Her younger age and loss of height made the weapon appear even longer, but that didn't seem to be causing her any difficulties.

They had just finished with her shooting mana bullets at the target, and it had taken her a few extra shots to get them back on target. Evidently, she was going to need to train with regular bullets and with mana bullets, as the mana bullets had significantly less drop than her Lupua rounds. It wasn't a significant difference, at least at the distances they were using for the test, but in the field it would definitely be something to keep note of.

"So, did you want me to try out some of my Rites, or are we done?" Taylor asked as she shifted to a kneeling position.

"What do you mean?" Akkeman asked. He was jostling his computer frantically. Based on comments he had made previously, Taylor suspected he had needed to modify his record keeping to keep track of all her shots. Apparently he wasn't expecting Gaston to insist on such thorough testing? It wasn't like he was going to allow the scientists to keep their gear set up on his range indefinitely, after all.

"Well, I've just been using mana bullets," the magical girl explained. "They're easy enough to produce and seem to be better than regular bullets, but it's just mana. I should be able to infuse them with actual Rites as well."

Akkeman stood silently for a moment, considering things. Finally he said, "That could prove valuable. Did you have anything particular in mind?"

"Before you get started," Gaston cut in, "I would like to request that you don't do anything too excessive. The range's backstop can only handle so much."

"Well," Taylor began, considering what she knew about her magical abilities. "I think Frost should be safe enough." Lying back down and taking careful aim, she said, "I'm preparing the shot."

Akkeman nodded. "We're ready to record the shot." A moment later there was a crack as Taylor fired, a bright blue light flashing from the muzzle of her rifle. Down range, the target grew an obvious coating of ice.

"Good to know that works," Taylor noted. "I think I may be able to make the mana bullets faster with Motion or hit harder with Blood. And, if things go the way I want, I should be able to shoot healing bullets with Life."

"Here, try this," Rose suggested, handing over a single cartridge.

"What should it do?" Taylor asked. She wasn't really concerned that the other girl would give her something dangerous, or at least more dangerous than she expected, but it'd be best to make sure before firing a magic bullet she didn't make.

"It should fix things up a bit," Rose replied. "If I did it right, at least." She paused for a moment and added, "At least, it shouldn't cause any more damage than a regular mana bullet would if I messed up."

"Gaston?" Taylor asked.

The man sighed. "You might as well go ahead."

"Professor?" Taylor asked again.

"Hm, yes," Akkeman replied. "It should be interesting to see how your magics interact."

"Right," Taylor said, slotting the cartridge into place. A moment later, there was a crack, followed by the target no longer being covered in ice. Taylor studied it for a moment and stated, "It looks like it did when we got here. I think it worked."

"Well, that certainly opens up some interesting possibilities," Akkeman noted.

"Yes!" Rose cheered. "Sniper buddies for the win! I can't wait to see what we can do with some time to prepare properly!"

"Not in my range, you won't!" Gaston snapped fearfully.

"We're gonna need a bigger range," Taylor noted, amused at being able to use a variant of the old movie line.

[hr][/hr]

Author's note: This may be the last update for a while. Unfortunately, real life has been sapping my writing time for the last several months, and I've run out of buffer. The next chapter has been started, but it is not even remotely ready to post.


End file.
